Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA)🎃 - About 80 percent of students haveproblems that they want to share with others and want a private space in theschool to seek help and talk about their problems, according to the Ministry ofEducation and Training’s surveys conducted in the capital city of Hanoi and thenorthern province of Hai Duong.
Studies conducted in another seven northern provinces alsofound that 20 percent of students suffered psychological problems that requiredintervention.In order to achieve a comprehensive education, it wasnecessary to take care of mental health to help students overcome theirproblems and enhance their learning, Nguyen Quy Thanh, Rector of the Universityof Education (UE) under the Vietnam National University said at a recent workshopon training school psychological counsellors held by the UE.
Thanh said psychological consultation was important and timelyadvice could help ease negative feelings and deal with problems related toschool.
However, he acknowledged that school counselling is facing alot of challenges particularly in human resources.
“Most of schools don’t have qualified school counsellors whohave been trained in educational counselling,” Thanh told Radio The Voice ofVietnam.
According to Thanh, psychological counsellors inschools at present are teachers of Law, Literature, Psychology or History andGeography. Although they have undergone training, their expertise is stilllimited due to limited resources and capacity of consultant experts.
According to Bui Van Linh, deputy head of theDepartment of Political Affairs and Student Management under the MoET, acircular on psychological consultation, which took effect in February, statedthat every school must establish a psychological consultation group to assiststudents in major issues relating to gender, reproductive health, anti-abuse,career orientation or problems arising in social relationship.
The group consists of between three and sevenpeople led by a principal or a vice principal. All group members must have acertificate to show they have undergone training on psychological counselling.
It is expected there will be about 70,000 psychologycounsellors who should be trained in the next three years.
Linh emphasised that much attention should be paid tophysical and mental health of students.
Given huge pressure from daily life, students might suffersuch consequences as boredom, poor score in learning or severe depression, evensuicide if the problem wasn’t spotted and treated.
He said the colleges specialising in school psychologytraining should offer more courses to help school counsellors. A network ofpsychology consultant centres, which could assist those dealing with seriouscases, should also be established.
He also said the MoET had assigned the Vietnam Institute ofEducational Sciences to set up training programmes for psychological teachers.
🧔 In the coming years, school counselling service will bereviewed to ensure physical and mental health for both teachers and students,and teachers who have psychological difficulties will be assisted whilestudents will be empowered to cope with mental stress in general and psychologyin particular.-VNA
