By Reuben Olita,Busia
Kenyan teachers have been challenged to leave within their means to evade mental health disorders that continue unabated among them.
This appeal came during a plenary session of a three day workshop on mental health at Farmview Hotel in Busia Town that ended last Thursday. It was formally opened by Kibabii University Vice Chancellor Prof Isaac Ipara Odeo.
The Project Principal Investigator and Kibabii Lecturer Dr Manasi Echaune told teachers to live within their means and to grow in a simple way to avoid factors associated with mental health, including stress, fatigue, trauma, and drug and substance abuse.
“Teachers need to have a consistent savings plan and have it grow instead of relying on salary and overstraining their payslips,” Dr Echaune said.
He said men are celebrating mental health month across the world this month that ended on Monday, dismissing the hypothesis that mental health is a hoax that is not real.
Dr. Echaune said there was a need by the government to channel funds to schools in the country to promote mental health activities to minimise inherent challenges associated with the reaching fraternity.
He urged teachers not to contribute negatively to the mental status of students, noting that most of them don’t know they have mental issues, which affects their educational performance.
The workshop gave startling revelations of how teachers suffer in silence due to their inability to balance their financial obligations, which had placed them in an awkward position financially.
The teachers drawn from four counties in the Western region and Nyanza also blamed parents for actions they take while punishing their children who have become big-headed.
It also emerged that teachers’ hands are tied over the times some of the learners report to school at their own pleasure and the banning of corporal punishment, schoolfees delays, and lack of teachers understanding on vulnerability of learners.
Dr Martha Konje, in her presentation, said bullying in schools was cited as a factor that is causing anxiety and stress to newcomers, especially those joining form one, noting that although it’s not in physical form but because of luxury products parents buy for their school-going children which makes their seniors in school envious because they cannot afford it.
On the rising threats of suicidal cases in schools, Dr Konje urged Boards of Management to approach it with empathy and stop escalating the situation.
The Don noted that causes of mental health include academic pressure, exam stress, performance anxiety, drive for perfection, and broken families.
Dr. Konje said signs of a person developing mental health challenges include seeing ghosts at night like seeing a lady walking on high heels at midnight or a man wearing weeves.
Dr. Konje regretted that lesbianism had increased, especially among girls’ schools, while the National University of Lesotho representative, Makhetha Leseto, agreed that mental health had great challenges, calling on the national government to factor funds to look not only into the students facing mental health challenges, but also the teachers in schools across the country.
Konje said effective integration of mental health in schools can improve educational outcomes and increase learners’ social and emotional learning, help indentification of risk learners, and provide support, including through pathways.
” It will also promote learners’ social and emotional learning and reduce the likelihood of mental health degenerating into a severe state of affairs,” she said.
Kibabii Deputy Vice Chancellor Prof Julius Maiyo said some issues require spiritual intervention, urging schools to seek spiritual nourishment and pastors to pray for teachers and students, noting that some things require spiritual intervention.
Stakeholders agreed that financing of learners’ education should not neglect boychild who end up engaging in activities like boda boda, urging county’s women Representative to gives girls who drop out of school because of pregnancy a second chance to return to school.
Dr. Makila Leonita said mental health is sparked off by drugs and substance abuse, thus the need to deal with it by having advocacy programs integrated in teaching and capacity building.
She urged students to stop the habit if they had just begun and avoid peer relationship, embark on training skills and awareness, and have teachers involved in combating the vice in schools.
Dr. Manila said 89.6% of learners who engage in drugs and substance abuse come from poor families and middle level class, thus the need for concern.
“The majority of girls in Nairobi, Kisumu, Busia, and Mombasa are at high risk by consuming drugs owing to either high population like Nairobi or being proximity to Tanzania or Uganda like Kisumu and Busia.
The survey also cited male university students as leaders in drug consumption, with first year students taking the lead owing to peer influences, noting that over consumption of drugs leads to death, addiction, and risk of health.
Dr. Mathetha also cited an increase in suicidal cases in the country, which he attributed to miniskirts theory that includes helplessness, loss of hope, urging teachers to be very smart in dealing with such vices.
Dr Rose Mutende cited home-based challenges that aroused trauma among the youth, including high poverty levels, leading to a lack of basic necessities, including food, uniforms, fees, and child-headed households.
The environmental challenges she cited include regular floods in Budalang’i, insecurity in border towns that affect school attendance, insecurity for girls going to school, and leaving for home very late and health risk that results to malaria, poor Sanitation and menstrual health trauma.
School-based challenges include stressful exams, low-self worth, trauma from violence, overcrowded classrooms with over 60 students, and limited access to school counsellors and psychological support.
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