Teachers call for mental health programs

(Lyka Amethyst H. Casamayor)
(Lyka Amethyst H. Casamayor)

GROUP of teachers in Davao City urged the government for more mental health programs for teachers to avoid more suicide cases in the country.

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)-Davao Region president Elenito Escalante told reporters during a press conference that the past suicide incidents of teachers allegedly due to depression in the city and in other places could be connected to too much workload and pressure from the piled up requirements.

“Perennial mani nga problema nga sukad pa kaniadto, nag-ingon mi nga overworked yet underpaid. Nganong nakaingon nga overworked? Tungod kay ahlos tanang ahensiya sa gobyerno, i-deputize ang mga teachers (This has been a perennial problem because teachers has always been overworked yet underpaid. Teachers are overworked because almost all agencies of the government deputize teachers to do their job),” Escalante said.

He added that public school teachers become election workers during election, health workers during health programs, among others, when public school teachers are already required by the Department of Education (DepEd) with “excessive” paperwork and systems that exhaust the teachers.

“Sad to say the DepEd in Davao region do not have any existing mental health program which has been long overdue asked by every teaching personnel, there were some attempts that in every Midyear Performance Review Evaluation though but still not enough,” ACT-Davao City president Reynaldo Pardillo said.

“So we hope that there should really be mental health programs because most of the death and suicide incidents are related to these mental issues such as depression and anxiety as told by the immediate family of persons involved,” he added.

Last September 4, 2018, Senator Sonny Angara called on to pass the Teacher Protection Bill or the Senate Bill 1870 that aims to promote and improve the working conditions of public school teachers as a response to reported suicide of teachers allegedly due to heavy workload. However, no progress has been made for the bill.

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