The Schools Division Office (SDO) of Iloilo will identify learners who need mental health intervention before the next school year’s classes begin.

SDO Superintendent Ernesto Servillo Jr., said on Thursday designated and appointed guidance counselors are required to assess junior and senior high school students’ areas of concern – Home, Education and Employment, Activities and Peer Group, Drugs, Sexuality, Suicide, Safety, and Social media.

He said once they have identified these learners, the school would come up with an appropriate intervention to address their issues and prevent them from getting frustrated.

“With that, we can prevent suicide cases and other incidents that can destroy them,” he said in an interview.

The assessment will begin before the start and throughout the 2024-2025 school year.

While they intend to cover all learners, the pilot implementation is the junior and senior high school because it is the critical age.

Based on the recorded cases of mental health, students involved are in these grade levels, Servillo said.

Meanwhile, secondary and integrated schools registered and designated guidance counselors completed their training on mental health in October last year.

They intend to capacitate more teachers and school heads so they would know how to detect red flags or students dealing with mental health problems.

Servillo said they need more licensed guidance counselors since only 11 of their 96 plantilla posts are filled.

The SDO Iloilo province has 1,178 schools and over 445,000 learners. (PNA)