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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Focus on mental health: Urgent call for psychosocial support in schools after Nueva Ecija classroom shooting

Focus on mental health: Urgent call for psychosocial support in schools after Nueva Ecija classroom shooting

Published Aug 9, 2025 08:54 pm  |  Updated Aug 10, 2025 01:08 am

At A Glance

  • The Nueva Ecija shooting exposed serious shortages of mental health staff, risking student safety
  • Teachers are overwhelmed with non-teaching duties and lack support to handle traumatic incidents
  • ACT calls on DepEd to hire more mental health professionals, reduce class sizes, and include emotional and gender education to prevent future tragedies
Urgent call for increased psychosocial support and mental health services in Philippine schools after the Nueva Ecija classroom shooting. (MARK BALMORES / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE)
Urgent call for increased psychosocial support and mental health services in Philippine schools after the Nueva Ecija classroom shooting. (MARK BALMORES / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE)
A group on Saturday, August 9, urged the government to prioritize urgent psychosocial support in schools following a recent classroom shooting in Nueva Ecija, which left two students critically injured and deeply shaken the local community.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, in a statement, strongly condemned the tragic classroom shooting that occurred on August 7 at Sta. Rosa Integrated School in Nueva Ecija, where a male learner fired a .22 caliber handgun at a female student before attempting to take his own life.
READ: 
https://mb.com.ph/2025/08/08/shooting-incident-in-nueva-ecija-school-sparks-outcry-from-deped-teachers-group
Mental health gaps in schools
Following the incident, ACT emphasized the urgent need for increased investments in psychosocial support, mental health services, and emotional education within Philippine schools to ensure safer learning environments.
“What our schools urgently need are guidance counselors, mental health professionals, and an education system that teaches empathy, emotional regulation, and respect for others,” ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua said.
Despite the recent release of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Bullying Act, the group said, “schools continue to suffer from glaring resource gaps that undermine its implementation.”
Currently, ACT pointed out, there is only one guidance counselor for every 14,000 students nationwide, alongside a critical lack of school nurses, psychologists, and learner support aides.
“Many schools also lack private counseling spaces and support systems for teachers who are left to manage incidents of conflict and bullying without proper training or institutional backing,” ACT said.
Teachers overburdened amid lack of support staff
With classrooms growing more complex and administrative tasks piling up, teachers across the country have been sounding the alarm: the chronic lack of support staff is pushing them to the brink.
“Teachers are already overworked with non-teaching tasks,” Quetua said. “Without sufficient support staff, the responsibility to handle violent or traumatic incidents is unfairly and dangerously dumped on them,” he added.
Quetua also stressed that “no policy can succeed without real personnel, infrastructure, and psychosocial programs in place.”
Call for holistic school reforms
The group is urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to implement genuine reforms, including:
Hiring adequate numbers of guidance counselors and mental health professionals in all schools
Reducing class sizes to foster stronger teacher-student relationships
Integrating gender sensitivity, emotional literacy, and conflict resolution education into the national curriculum
Thorough investigation and structural change
ACT called on DepEd to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting and to use this tragedy as a catalyst for structural reforms aimed at creating safe, supportive, and emotionally nurturing school environments across the Philippines.
“We cannot treat these incidents as isolated tragedies,” Quetua said. “We must confront the root causes—from poverty and emotional neglect to the lack of mental health care in schools,” he added.
RELATED STORY: 
https://mb.com.ph/2025/08/09/deped-orders-stricter-school-safety-measures-to-prevent-violence-protect-learners

Related Tags

DepEd ACT Philippines school shooting Nueva Ecija psychosocial support in schools mental health in Philippine schools guidance counselors shortage Anti-Bullying Act implementation
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