In line with its commitment to raising mental health awareness in Nigeria, Jela’s Development Initiatives, JDI, a nonprofit organisation, in partnership with the TY Danjuma Foundation, recently concluded a policy discourse with key stakeholders in the health and education sectors on pertinent issues regarding the mental health of students and teachers.
The engagement session tagged ‘Strategic Policy Meeting’, had in attendance stakeholders from the Ministries of Education and Health, FCT Secondary Edcucation Board, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Nigeria Education Research and Development Council, mental health awareness advocates, relevant nonprofit organisations and school leaders, with deliberations on initiating an effective policy roadmap to address the gaps in mental health sensitisation in public secondary schools.
The Founder of JDI, Angela Ochu-Baiye, a Mandela Washington Fellow, noted the existing loopholes in mental health education in Nigeria and stressed that to fix those drawbacks, strategic stakeholder engagements are of critical importance.
“There is an imperative need for all key actors in health and education to align in objectives and expectations and for that to happen, we must engage strategically to develop or initiate the development of a policy framework on mental health education by the government. That is the predominant goal of this Strategic Policy Meeting we just had”, Ochu-Baiye stated.
The mental health education project, which is part of a 5-year(2023-2027) social development partnership between JDI and the TY Danjuma Foundation, is targeting public secondary school teachers to address the challenges of ineffective teaching methods, poor understanding of mental health, lack of cooperation and knowledge sharing amongst teachers, lack of conducive work environment and insufficient instructional materials in public schools in 5 states- FCT-Abuja, Kwara, Kaduna, Niger and Kogi.
The project kicked off in April with a four-day teachers training for public secondary school teachers in Abuja, titled ‘Teacher Training, Mental Health Awareness and Advocacy for Effective Curriculum Delivery in Public Schools in the FCT’.
During the 4-day Teachers Training and Step-down training held in 20 public secondary schools in the FCT, data collected from 202 participants revealed that 20.96% of them had not had access to professional development opportunities in the past two years. 9.15% were required to work in unfavorable teaching environments, while a significant 80.84% were fortunate to teach in schools that fostered collaboration and teamwork.
The mental health data indicates varying degrees of mental health challenges within the surveyed population, with 3.22% experiencing extreme & high depression, 13.44%-moderate depression, 34.41%-mild depression, and 48.92%- minimal depression. Similarly, anxiety levels were reported as 1.63% extreme, 3.26% high, 10.87% moderate, 38.59% mild, and 45.65% minimal. Also, there exists a strong consensus among the participants (97.22%) that mental health education should be integrated into the standard teaching curriculum.
JDI is a non-profit registered in Nigeria in 2019, to provide opportunities for any individual-irrespective of beliefs, gender or socio-economic background- to access potable water as well as sanitation and hygiene facilities, voluntary blood donors and mental healthcare while creating platforms for youth empowerment through volunteering.
