By Gavin Mackintosh -
British schools will benefit from new mental health support teams due to commence working with schools “by the end of 2019”, the British government has confirmed.
Ahead of their official response to a consultation on children and young people’s mental health, the Department for Education and Department of Health have announced they will proceed with plans to employ thousands of extra staff to support the schools community.
The plan is the outcome of a joint committee report on the government’s Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health has led to move which will seek to address mental health more effectively than in past times. Education secretary, Damian Hinds, and health and social care secretary Matt Hancock said there will need to be different approaches for colleges and for schools.
The news comes as The Eye Of Media.Com has behind the scenes been pressuring the Education minister to address the disturbing issue of behaviour problems in British schools, many of which teachers have long expressed as a very challenging issue in many schools. More pupils in schools than realized suffer from serious mental health issues, some arising from sexual abuse from family members, previous partners, and in many cases, the mere fact that an absentee parent is ignoring them and not playing a role in their lives.
In many cases, it is difficult to distinguish pupils suffering from mental health problems from those who are just rebellious and a nuisance. The Eye Of Media.Com been discussing the troubling issue with the ministry of education for about a week, though plans to address mental health issues in British schools have been on the cards for about a year. This publication has also campaigned for mental health studies to be part of the schooling curriculum, in order to raise awareness of the problem, highlight its causes, and educate pupils and parents about how to address and overcome mental health illness.
Statistics claim that 1 in 4 people in the UK suffer from some form of mental illness- a disturbing reading in itself. The time frame for the scheme has again come under fire, after it was confirmed that it will reach a maximum of only 25 per cent of the population by 2023. The Barnardo’s children’s charity said the £300m approved plan which was first set out in a green paper last year would still leave hundreds of thousands of children without the help they desperately need.
Last year December, the two departments announced plans to spend £95 million putting “senior mental health leads” in schools. An extra £215 million will be spent on creating local “mental health support teams”, which will work between schools and child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The aim is to offer support and treatments in schools, including cognitive behaviour therapy.
In the original consultation, ministers said both projects would start work in certain trailblazer areas, where schools will work with the NHS, councils and other bodies, “from 2019”.
Now the government has confirmed that mental health support teams will be place “by December 2019”, but is yet to confirm arrangements for designated mental health leads in schools.
Both schemes are supposed to be rolled out to “at least 20 to 25 per cent of the population by the end of 2022-23”.
Seven universities will begin offering education mental health practitioner courses to would-be mental health support team members in January. The government says there could be “as many as 8,000 additional staff supporting schools and colleges across the country in the long-term”.
The children’s charity Barnardo’s is disappointed with the timeframe, and accused the government of “sleep-walking into the deepening crisis in children’s mental health”.
“Theresa May has described mental illness as a burning injustice that required a new approach from Government,” said Javed Khan, the charity’s chief executive.
“However, actions speak louder than words. The government’s response to the green paper consultation does not show enough action on how as a society we are going to stop sleepwalking into a children’s mental health crisis.
“The response has let down the children who gave their views about the problems with the green paper and if the government does not rethink its approach, it runs the risk of letting down future generations too.”