Guidance Officers from the Ministry of Education’s Student Support Services Division are set to distribute forty thousand (40,000) printed workbooks sponsored by UNICEF for classroom sessions.
The workbook seeks to educate children on how they can manage their mental health and prepare for their re-adjustment to school. Key features of the interactive workbook include tips, games, quizzes, activities, links to apps, and other useful information to enhance children’s mental health.
The workbook also includes child rights and child abuse education with contact numbers, websites and social media links for the relevant helplines and referral agencies. Educaton Minister Nyan Gadsby-Dolly welcomed the initiative of the workbook and has committed to the timely distribution of the workbooks to schools and students across Trinidad and Tobago.
The electronic version is available for download for all children nationwide at www.opmgca.gov.tt/ChildZone/MentalHealth. This website also contains a video developed in collaboration with the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity Programme of George Washington University to educate parents, teachers and adults on how they can help their children improve their mental health during COVID-19.
Visitors to the website will also discover social media friendly graphic designs to help children improve their mental health.
According to a UNICEF U-Report Trinidad & Tobago poll administered to children during COVID-19 on November 2020, 74% of the children revealed that ‘they felt more worried or sad than usual during COVID-19.’
Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ayana Webster-Roy along with Minister Gadsby-Dolly look forward to continued collaboration, in an effort to strengthen the service delivery of our child protection machinery and secure the mental health and wellness of all students in Trinidad and Tobago. Daily mental health tips will be posted to social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram) @genderandchildaffairs.
COMMENTS