MINISTER of Education and Youth Fayval Williams says the Government has been moving aggressively to tackle the problem of mental health in schools.

Responding to questions from educators at the Region Three Back to School Conference 2023 at Ocean Coral Spring Hotel in Trelawny on July 25, Williams said the ministry is cognisant that mental health issues pose a serious threat to the ability of students to learn and have been undermining the efforts of teachers, many of whom are not trained to deal with the problem.

“Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic we are recognising how much of an issue mental unwellness is in our schools, [to the point] where we are seeing the problem [escalating],” the minister noted.

“There is great cause for concern, especially when you look at students from grade seven to nine and so on. We are going to have to expand the capability… the reach of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency [CPFSA] to be able to combine that kind of support for schools.”

The CPFSA is responsible for children who need care and protection. It operates nine governmental residential childcare facilities, and licenses and regulates more than 40 private residential childcare facilities islandwide, as well as provides services to children in State care through the LIFE (Living in Family Environment) Programme.

The minister said overtures being made to the CPFSA have become extremely necessary, as while there are guidance counsellors within the school communities throughout the island, as well as a slate of professionals whose services are often utilised by the ministry, much more needs to be done.

She added that while there is no quick fix solution in solving the problem the Government is fully committed to putting in the resources, doing timely interventions when necessary to lessen the burden on teachers.

“We know that what currently exists is not adequate so we have to turn to our sister agency to see how we can bring in more professionals to assist. You might recall, two or three weeks ago, we announced we opened a new therapeutic centre in Kingston,” Williams noted.

“We want to open other centres across the island but that’s the first one that we have; we also understand that it’s the first one in the region. The therapeutic centre is where children and their parents would make visits. We will have the professionals there where they can be assessed, observed, and worked with over a long period of time.”

Williams said that the ministry will also be ensuring that there is a residential therapeutic centre wherein if a child is experiencing serious mental health issues, [that child] can be put in that space where they can get the intervention needed.

The conference, which lasted from July 24-26, was held under the theme, ‘Education transformation — enabling and maximising every child’s talents and abilities’.

It had among its key objectives the empowerment of school leaders with a view to enhancing leadership and management practices. Region Three consists of schools within the parishes of St Ann and Trelawny.