By Robert Nyagah
The government’s decision to introduce Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) education system in the country will play a positive role in improving learners’ mental health wellness, research has revealed.
Scholars at the University of Nairobi’s Department of Psychiatry have established that subjecting children to long hours of academic work, with heavy workloads and little rest, exposes them to stress and affects their mental health.
The psychiatrists argue that CBC will reduce academic performance-related stress by helping the young learners identify and pursue technical skills-based subjects of their interest.
In a paper, Mental Health in Kenyan Schools: Teachers’ perspective has welcomed the new curriculum as lighter and attractive to young learners, leading Psychiatry scholars Dr. Anne Wanjiru Mbwayo, Dr. Muthoni Mathai, Dr. L.I. Khasakhala and Dr. Mary Wangari Kuria from the College of Health Sciences, indicate that whereas mental wellbeing among children remains paramount, it has not been mainstreamed in schools.
As such, instances of various mental health problems have been reported among students.
They argue that the curriculum change is a welcome move to boost learner’s mental health.
“The government has changed the education system, with a curriculum which is competency-based and therefore children who are not gifted academically can utilize the different talents that they have. This is a positive move as children can excel in their areas of strength and reduce stress related to academic performance,” they said.
The scholars noted that while teachers were interested in identifying and assisting affected learners, they lacked skills and time to tackle the cases. It therefore calls upon teacher training colleges to include a module on children’s and adolescents’ mental health to equip teachers with the basic knowledge of confronting such cases among the learners.
Besides, current teachers, according to the psychiatrists, need an in-service training on mental health to increase their mental health literacy, knowledge, attitude and practice.
They said the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) should find ways of ensuring it can easily assess children thought to be having learning difficulties for appropriate intervention, adding that failure to tackle student’s mental health hinders their development.
The teacher training curriculum in the Colleges and Universities-Mental Health in Kenyan Schools: Teachers’ Perspective report stresses the need to include mental health of children and adolescents and how to deal with such problems in the school setting.
“This will help the teachers get information on how to identify and appropriately refer the affected students. Within the schools, teachers need to realize that a negative change in a student’s behaviour is not always due to indiscipline,” the researchers suggested.
The head teachers, they said, could also improve the school community’s knowledge on mental health by organizing talks for them on emotional and behavioural problems experienced by children and adolescents.
