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DepEd’s mental health program: Sen. Nancy Binay, during Tuesday’s hybrid public hearing of the Committee on Basic Education January 31, 2023 on Senate Bill No. 379 or the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, asks about the scope of the mental health program in the Department of Education (DepEd). Binay also inquired about the existence of guidance counselors in grade schools. She said that during her school days, students had one-on-one sessions with guidance counselors to discuss mental health and their career path. DepEd Assistant Sec. Dexter Galban said mental health program is scattered across the different divisions and strands of the department. Galban said the DepEd, through its Bureau of Learner Support Services, has the school health and the school sports and youth formation, all functioning to provide different programs for mental health. He added that the guidance counselling program still currently exists. “But one of the considerations that we have is that we could not provide enough support to that population group that we hope to assess... (the experts) can actually highlight the difference in competencies that would be needed because there are differences in terms of what a guidance counselor can do," Galban said. (Screengrab/Senate PRIB)