Mental Health Programs Among the Youth
Numerous publications related to students learning in Africa has shown that the focus of education is virtuously academics. Poor students’ academic performance is an area of concern that has attracted a lot of interest and researchers have invested substantial amount of time finding out why students do not really perform well. According to a study by Rwanda Education for all Coalition (2015) Poor academic performance result from external factors for instance lack of instructional materials, poor teacher-parents’ relationship, social economic status of parents, and other related factors. While other studies have indicated that teacher factors largely contribute to students’ academic achievement.
Despite the fact that the foregoing may have great impact in students’ life and realization of life goals, it is undoubtable that there are several other weightier features that may affect student’s achievement and realization of life goals. Globally, governments and organizations are increasingly recognizing the need for an integrative approach to pupil learning. Rather than focusing solely on academics, learning priorities have shifted to also include other assets that foster emotional, social, and physical wellbeing and empower youth to set and achieve goals and become healthy contributing members of society.
Proactive and promotive programs that promotes adolescent’s capacity to navigate the most critical stage of life are missing in essence. Regrettably, programs that take care of adolescent’s mental health and wellbeing have been sidestepped and sidelined in educational planning. Adolescents subsequently lack skills for dealing with development-related, social and educational challenges encompassing those emanating from contemporary ideologies, and search for identity.
Mr. Hakizimana, a headteacher in a school in Kigali, Rwanda, explained that “It is not rare to find a student with a bright future, talented and with indications of a great destiny ahead being lured into drug and substance abuse, irresponsible sexual behaviors, and crime; increased rates school drop-out and wastage of capital”. In other cases where the students persist in schools, a large proportion has no future/ life perspective or even outlook; they cannot relate the future and now.
To salvage the relevance and importance of education, there is a need for governments, development agencies and other education stakeholders to come up with programs that cater for student’s mental health and wellbeing. Programs that builds students internal assets like coping skills, self-esteem, planning skills, and persistence and external assets like positive relationships. These assets are critical in academic success and also impact health outcomes (i.e. lower pregnancy rates, lower drug use) and help adolescents become healthy contributing members of society.
Development agencies, can diversify their interventions especially in Rwanda and give attention to mental health, promotion and treatment, rehabilitation and sensitization especially in educational institutions. They can also invest in programs that promote Social emotional learning and support the youth in educational institutions to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain the positive relationship and Make responsible decisions
By Jane Nungari
IEE Rwanda.