Tukoy na: Mental health issues dahilan ng pag-drop out ng mas maraming college students

MENTAL health issues ang itinuturong dahilan ng pag-drop out ng mga college students kaysa sa academic difficulty.

Ito ang isiniwalat ni Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Propero “Popoy” de Vera sa pagdinig na ginawa ng Senate finance subcommittee hinggil sa panukalang P31.6 billion budget para sa taong 2025 ng CHED.

Inurirat kasi ni Senator Joel Villanueva ang “alarming number” ng mga college students na nag-drop out sa mga nakalipas na taon.

Ipinakita ni Villanueva ang data ng attrition rate noong 2021 kung saan mayroon itong 40.6% habang 39.2 naman noong 2022.

Para sa Class 2022, tinukoy ni Villanueva, ang data ng CHED na nagpapakita na 7 mula sa 17 rehiyon sa bansa ay mayroong mahigit na 50% attrition rate, ang pinakamataas na naitala ay sa Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao na may 93.4%.

Sinabi ni De Vera na ang data mula 2021, 2022 at 2023 ay “little different” dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic.

Subalit matapos ang pandemya, ang pinakabago aniyang attrition rate ay “high 20s” na aniya ay “actually comparable with other countries in the region and the world.”

Sa kabilang dako, ang mga estudyante na huminto sa kanilang pag-aaral ay may mga dahilan na:

-Hirap sa pinansiyal kabilang na ang gastos sa transportasyon, pagkain, internet at graduation fees.

-Family problem

-Relocation

-Mental health concerns

-Academic difficulty

“There’s an emerging reason which is medical mental health concerns that we did not expect this previously [and] it’s coming out [now] and then panglima lang ‘yung [ranked fifth is] academic difficulty,” ang sinabi ni De Vera.

“Mental health concern is higher reason for stopping than academic difficulty. It is not really because they are having difficulty studying, but their mental health has really been affected,” aniya pa rin.

Sa kasalukuyan ani De Vera ay nagpapatuloy ang CHED ng dalawang proyekto na may kaugnayan sa mental health.

“We are working with Miriam College to roll out the training of guidance counselors in schools and also the support staff on how to identify mental health concerns and we have a project with Unilab because they have a tool kit already on mental health which we are rolling out to schools,” anito.

At nang tanungin ang ratio ng guidance counselors sa mga estudyante, sinabi ni De Vera na “it is not very good” subalit ang kanilang bilang ay “better” kumpara sa ‘basic at secondary education.’

Kaya nga umapela si De Vera sa mga senador na amiyendahan ang bagong batas na nagre-require ng master degree bago pa makakuha ng licensure examination ang isang prospective guidance counselor.

Maliban dito, sinabi pa ni De Vera na mayroong mas kaunti na guidance counselors sa higher education dahil sa oras na makakuha na sila ng posisyon, “there will be no more career progression.”

“What is happening is that the people who have guidance counselor degrees, they start off as guidance counselors and then they move to become faculty members…then they can get promoted as professors from assistant to full[-time]. They stop becoming guidance counselors because they are now regular faculty members,” ang sinabi ni De Vera.

“What [state universities and colleges] do is they deload these people and make them part-time guidance counselors. SUCs are trying to find imaginative ways of continuing guidance counseling but the salary grade is quite low and the career progression is basically non-existent because it’s an administrative position. So aalis ang guidance counselor,” aniya pa rin. (Daris Jose)