Services of counsellors in schools should be ensured to identify mental health problems experienced by students in time and address them, Kerala Women’s Commission Chairperson P. Satheedevi has said.
She was speaking after inaugurating ‘Kaumaram Karuthaku,’ a special awareness programme organised by the Kerala Women’s Commission for higher secondary students at the start of the academic year, at the district-level at Government Higher Secondary School, Kamaleswaram, here on Thursday.
Rather than offering support only during examination time, services of school counsellors should be ensured on a daily basis so that they can understand children’s mental stresses and pressures, and provide necessary support.
Ms. Satheedevi said society must put in a concerted effort to prevent students from falling prey to drug racket knowingly or unknowingly.
Social responsibility pledge
She administered a social responsibility pledge to the students on the occasion. Anson Alexander of Kanal, an organisation that works among students, organised an awareness class.
The programme focused on creating awareness about the ills of substance abuse, importance of gender equality, and the tendency to seek revenge for denial of romantic overtures.
Kaumaram Karuthaku will be held in one school in each district this month and the next. The State-level inauguration of the programme was held last year.
