By John Majau
The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) has been urged to recommend employment of professional counselors in both primary and secondary schools in a bid to deal with increasing mental health cases.
Clinical Psychologist Dr. Monica Gitonga said behaviours exhibited in some children was a mental health issue and should be addressed as a matter of urgency by developing structures to deal with the situation.
She said cases of children committing suicide, getting engaged in weird behaviour such as rape, sodomy and drug abuse is triggered by incidents at an early age that could be addressed through counseling.
“We should have professionals to deal with mental health of our children because minor incidents such as bereavement at an early age affects one’s mental health, which blows up at teenage years or when they join the university,” said Gitonga.
She regretted that the government invests a lot of resources in deploying professionals to teach academic subjects but it does not seem to care about the mental health of those being taught.
“It is a shame that teachers who are not trained in counseling are in charge of this important aspect of our children’s lives,” she added.
Gitonga spoke at Meru Teachers Training College when the PWPER collected views from residents and professionals regarding the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) and the education sector at large.
Prof. Romanus Odhiambo, Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) Vice Chancellor said with most parents agreeing that Junior Secondary School (JSS) should be domiciled in primary or day schools, their management should be separate.
“Administrative structures should be created so that teachers manning the secondary section are different from those at the primary level to ensure professionalism,” he said.
He said various bursaries that are given out by MPs, Governors and the President should be merged and a body to manage them created, saying the current situation where bursaries are issued by different entities creates confusion with the danger of funds being misappropriated.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Meru branch said that the government should train more teachers to deal with the huge workload brought about by CBC.
“In order to increase enrolment into teacher training colleges, the minimum grade should be lowered. Currently colleges are recording low student population because of the high grade required for admission,” added Karuti Nchebere, the branch Executive Secretary.
