38 learners at ‘high-risk’ of mental health crisis after Tacloban shooting

The Department of Education (DepEd) said on Thursday that 38 ‘high-risk’ learners in San Jose National High School (SJNHS) in Tacloban City will require long-term psychological interventions after the fatal school shooting in June.

During the Senate Committee on Basic Education hearing on Thursday, DepEd Undersecretary for Governance and Operations Malcolm S. Garma said that out of 603 students who received psychosocial support, 38 are ‘high risk’ of a serious mental health condition.

High-risk victims are those who were directly exposed to the school shooting incident, while low-risk victims are those who were indirectly exposed.

“When they are categorized as high risk, it requires more than just first aid; they have to undergo deeper and higher-level intervention,” Mr. Garma said. “That would now involve PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) interventions.”

Other students who were recently discharged from the hospital, and those who refused to undergo mental health services a few days after the incident, are now undergoing psychological first aid (PFA).

“DepEd cannot cover the provisions of PFAs alone,” the DepEd official said. “This is where we saw the efforts of the other stakeholders… [who] have really lent out their hands to help us in the recovery of our learners, teachers, and parents.”

The deadly school shooting that occurred on June 22 claimed the lives of three students and injured 20 others.

In-person classes resumed last Monday in SJNHS to provide a sense of “normalcy”, according to DepEd. “The resumption of classes would somehow establish that normalcy in the school and provide that level of confidence also to our parents and to the community that the school is safe,” said Mr. Cabral.

“At the same time, it’s really to remove the trauma, the psychosocial and emotional trauma, that our teachers and learners have experienced because of this incident,” he added.

235 out of 336 Grade 7 students and 237 out of 369 Grade 8 students have attended face-to-face classes since resumption. Meanwhile, Grades 9 to 10 are under modular and online modality due to damaged facilities, and teachers of Grades 11 and 12 undergo training on school safety.

Students who refused to return to campus due to trauma from the incident were provided with learning modules and online activities to ensure learning continuity.

“We are not forcing them to attend face-to-face classes so for those who are still not able to attend face-to-face classes, we still provide them with alternative delivery modality,” Mr. Garma said.

The two perpetrators of the school shooting, aged 14 and 15, are currently in the custody of the Social Welfare department, while their psychological evaluation results remain pending. — Almira Louise S. Martinez