The Department of Education (DepED) named the most common health concerns among Filipino learners in basic education.
In a briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 11, DepED Spokesperson Michael Poa enumerated the top health concerns of Filipino students.
“Based on the information that we got from the schools’ health division, dental caries ‘yung usual or top concern, followed by pediculosis, and then of course ‘yung sipon at minor injuries. Last sa atin ay yung skin allergies (Based on the information that we got from the schools’ health division, dental caries is the usual or top concern, followed by pediculosis, and then of course colds and minor injuries. Last for us is the skin allergies),” said Poa.
Poa, however, admitted that DepED needs to update its data considering that in the past two years students were not able to fully participate in face-to-face classes due to the Covid-19 health crisis.
Beyond the physical well-being of learners, Poa stressed that DepED is also monitoring the mental health of the students. This, according to Poa, is one of the reasons why they initiated the conduct of psychosocial activities in schools.
“When we opened our schools last August 22 ,” he explained in a mix of English and Filipino.
Apart from this, the department, through its School Mental Health Program under the “Oplan Kalusugan sa DepED” (OK sa DepED) campaign, is also assessing the mental health status of the learners every school year.