Aside from Fire Prevention, Women and Water Day, March is seasonally—until the government changes the calendar—Graduation Month and there’s a lot of graduation ceremonies held at the end of this month which makes it a big deal for both parents and their children.
However, graduation time isn’t so joyous in Daanbantayan National High School after two of their graduating students committed suicide one after the other. The circumstances are different but one of those students ended his life after a teacher didn’t give him the clearance he needed to graduate.
Their deaths freaked out eight other students who were presumably close to the students, drawing the attention of the municipal government of Daanbantayan which lost no time in securing the assistance of the provincial government.
Psychologists are on board to attend to the students and the recovery period may take longer than the school’s scheduled graduation ceremony which may be held late this week or next week after the Holy Week break.
While Daanbantayan Mayor Augusto Corro said he doesn’t blame the teacher responsible for failing to sign the clearance of the student who committed suicide, someone should have taken it upon himself to help said student with his problem.
Whether it be unpaid obligations or the student’s failure to meet academic requirements, the teacher who has direct responsibility for it should have taken pains to help said student so he can either pass or at least make an effort to submit all the requirements needed to pass his course.
While we don’t lack for former dropouts who eventually excelled, their success stories are few and far between. Education remains a premium for both parents and children alike despite the penchant of youths to slack off from their studies and prioritize fun over responsibility.
This is especially true in municipalities where a good education is that ticket to going someplace better for students seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
When that Daanbantayan student failed to secure that clearance, he may have thought that his world ended at that point and it didn’t help any that he talked with his cousin who also felt depressed.
That teacher who failed to give that clearance may be haunted by that student’s death at least in the immediate future. We can only hope that it will be the last suicide to occur in that school’s watch.
School authorities may not only want to ease down on requirements that only cost money and wasted effort for students and parents alike but to appoint counselors that can listen to and help students cope emotionally with their lives in and outside school.
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