BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Ministry of Education is taking steps to increase the scope of counselling in schools, especially in light of recent reports and rumours of students attempting to commit suicide.
The first report which surfaced was in early June when a Verchild’s High School student reportedly attempted to commit suicide by placing a belt around her neck and tugging at the loosed end while she was in the school’s bathroom.
And since then, others reports have been received by this publication which indicate that other students may have attempted to take their own lives.
Minister of Education the Honourable Nigel Carty - speaking in exclusivity with SKNVibes – said a network of counselors (exists in or stretches across) the schools of the island who are trained to identify abnormal behavioural patterns and to assist children with their difficulties.
Being aware of “at least one (suicide) case”, Minister Carty explained part of the Ministry’s strategy in addressing this issue.
“What we have done is to assign or ask our lead person in the Ministry of Education, who is Dr. Trisha Esdaille, to look at any possible programme that we may put in place to beef up or to support what we are already doing in schools to focus on that issue at this particular point in time. Because, I know that coming out of a recent incident persons might have been traumatised. Persons who live in that area of the Verchild’s High School and so on might have been traumatised in a particular way…But it is a work in progress and we will do anything that we can do to avoid those circumstances.”
He also spoke of another initiative which – although not geared singly towards addressing the aforementioned issue - would encompass it and addressing students’ needs for alternative solutions to their problems of whatever kind.
“I just want to mention too that this coming year September, we are introducing our Child-Friendly Schools Initiative where we are beginning to focus a lot more on making the school an environment that is a safe haven for students, and that includes improving our counselling programmes, looking at what are affecting our children emotionally etc. and seeing where we could put mechanisms in place…
“I think we have the capacity. We have a well-trained person who is leading on that initiative. We are also just beginning to work on a project proposal with York University in Canada that will engage in a systematic study of some of the challenges, psychological and otherwise that our students are facing and, hopefully, out of that study we can get some recommendations and solutions.”
Carty suggested that an incident which occurred two months ago may have given some children the impression that the best way to deal with their troubles would be to take their life. He expressed his belief however that there are alternative effective solutions which the Ministry of Education’s new initiatives would be promoting.
