Teachers to be enabledempowered as change agents

Rawalpindi :There is a need to empower teachers on early recognition and treatment of priority child mental health conditions among students and WHO School Mental Health Programme will enable teachers to identify many of the mental health problems at an early stage that may affect mental and physical growth of a child or adolescent.

Director World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training Professor Dr Fareed Aslam Minhas expressed this while speaking at a gathering of over 200 participants including newly recruited school teachers and administrative staff under WHO School Mental Health Programme.

The activity that brought a sharp focus on the importance of schools and teachers as change agents for promoting child health, development and well being was organized at Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Kallar Syedan.

The role of teachers can hardly be denied in social and emotional development of the child and many mental health problems can be identified earlier on by the teachers, said Dr. Minhas. But because of lack of understanding about issues and prevailing cultural norms, the issues are often neglected resulting in poor social and emotional development of the child both physical and social, he added.

He said the School Mental Health Programme will enable teachers to help students develop to their socio-emotional potentials, which will eventually lead to more academic gains making them a productive member of the society. By creating an enabling environment, the programme aims to promote overall wellbeing of students, teachers, parents and community, he said.

Dr. Minhas who is also Dean Faculty of Psychiatry at College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) added that adolescence is one of the most rapid phases of human development. As individuals, adolescents are filled with untapped potentials. Good mental and physical health supports young people to manage and effectively deal with the challenges that can create hindrance in their natural development, he said.

He added some studies show that half of all people who develop mental disorders have their first symptoms by the age of 14 and 75 per cent have had their first symptom by their mid 20s. “If these early symptoms are left untreated, they impact adversely on child/adolescent development, educational attainment and potential to live fulfilling and productive healthy life,” said Dr. Minhas.

Executive District Officer (Education) Qazi Zahoor ul Haq graced the occasion and endorsed the importance and relevance of the program to ensure that every child thrives. District education officers, assistant education officers and tehsil coordinators Kallar Sayedan expressed their full support and showed keen interest in taking this initiative forward.