The Ministry of Education has increased support services for students, parents, and teachers through training, counsellors, social workers, school safety officers, and psychologists to assist in tackling underlying issues which contribute to the violence in schools.
This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Kay McConney, during a recorded address to the nation last weekend. She said the Ministry must approach the violence in schools in partnership with education stakeholders and organisations.
Ms. McConney stated that the Education Ministry had received funding from the Sandy Lane Trust, which allowed the Ministry to deploy 13 student counsellors to schools, with seven being assigned to secondary and the other six to primary.
She added that the roles of the counsellors are critical, and they offer individual and group counselling in the schools; they work alongside the ‘in school’ guidance counsellors with on-case management, and aid with the facilitation of referrals to the Child Care Board, the Juvenile Liaison Scheme, the National Council on Substance Abuse, and the Child Adolescents Mental Health Clinic.
The Minister said the number of social workers assigned to primary schools had also increased, on the prompting from the Ministry’s psychologist, Juanita Brathwaite-Wharton, and other student support services personnel, who said the Ministry needed to provide a whole family support working with the family environment, and not just the individual child, if the nation’s children are to be helped.
Ms. McConney outlined that the Ministry was in the process of building a programme with the Ministry of People Empowerment, to allow access to an expanded pool of social workers and to develop a healing programme to support grieving students and teachers.
Regarding the issue of grief, the Minister stated: “We recognise that grief is a big thing in the school system. Some have seen their loved ones hurt and killed and it’s not easy then to pick up and come to school and have to deal with all the other things they have to deal with in life, and therefore, this healing programme is really meant to help us support our students and teachers through that grieving process.”
She noted that the School Safety Officers, who were introduced in 2019, are assigned to the secondary schools most in need because of the level of challenges they face with violent behaviour.
She also mentioned the partnership with PAREDOS this year, to provide support to students, parents, and guardians. Students and parents from across 17 schools were engaged and sensitised to the consequences of drugs and predatory behaviour, school attendance and the law, and the do’s and don’ts of parenting. The Minister added that a more comprehensive parenting programme would be put in place during this school year.
Ms. McConney stated that principals had not been left out and training will be offered to primary and secondary schools in Mental Health Literacy in November, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Pan-American Health Organization.
“This training for principals comes after we trained, in 2023, … 25 primary school teachers as mental health advocates to be there to support children. And earlier this year, we trained approximately 60 support workers, social workers, counsellors, safety officers, school attendance officers, in mental health literacy.”