GB Nagar health dept to set up mental health counselling centres in schools
Noida: The district health department will soon set up mental health counselling centres at educational institutes across Gautam Budh Nagar, officials said
Noida: The district health department will soon set up mental health counselling centres at educational institutes across Gautam Budh Nagar, officials said. On Tuesday, the department also started training school counsellors in order to start the initiative.
According to Dr Shweta Khurana, district consultant for mental health awareness, over 1,400 schools of the district registered with the district inspector of schools, Gautam Budh Nagar, will be covered under the initiative in the first phase.
“In the first phase, we are starting training of school counsellors in the district. While counsellors are professional psychologists, they are often not trained to handle severe mental disorders. Hence, they will be given training by district health department officials to assess and handle such cases,” said Dr Khurana. She added that schools in the district that do not have professional counsellors will be asked to hire the same.
“Mental health awareness starts from an early age and with this initiative, the district health department aims to provide adequate counselling and mental health care to students in schools across the district,” Dr Khurana said. She added that a referral system will be established wherein students who are suffering from mental health disorders can be referred to the district health department.
Dr Khurana added that a letter of compliance for the initiative will also be sent to private and government colleges in the district. Dr RK Gupta, regional officer of the higher education department, Meerut region said, “The initiative will be implemented among all colleges in the district soon. As mental health awareness has increased, the government is pushing towards providing mental health care to people”.
Dharmveer Singh, district inspector of schools, Gautam Budh Nagar, informed that a letter from the district health department regarding the initiative was received by the department on Tuesday. “The school counsellors are being trained virtually by the district health department and all schools have been instructed to comply by the same,” he said.
Meanwhile, the district health department will also hold a drug-free awareness campaign at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida on Wednesday, informed Dr Khurana.