Healthy mind program for pupils to include teachers — Education Ministry DG
KOTA KINABALU: To help teachers handle their stress, the healthy mind program being implemented for pupils in schools throughout the country will include teachers.
Education Ministry directorgeneral Datuk Dr Amin Senin disclosed this after a talk at Dewan Tun Sakaran, Tabung Haji here, yesterday.
Also mentioned in the talk was stress faced by teachers, which can also arise from problems within their family and is not related to school matters but can affect their mental health.
“We have been working with the Health Ministry, and currently there is a program (implemented) in school which is called the Healthy Mind program, but this program is for students only.
“So recently we discussed at the school level on how they (the teachers) can manage their emotions and stress. So, we are expanding the Healthy Mind program to include everybody, not only to the pupils,?he said adding that stress on teachers is acknowledged.
He also said the first action to be taken against teachers with mental problem was to place them at the district education office (PPD) so as to separate them from any contact with the students.
The teacher will then be referred for counselling or hospital for further action and treatment and the person may come back to work as usual when they are healthy.
Meanwhile, on the talk program, Amin said he had gone all over the country for the talk program in order to share information on how the Malaysian education development plan could be seen from school's point of view.
“Basically, we ask the school to exercise its autonomy. Identifying problems and then solutions; we leave it to the school to do so. What is done by the PPD or state education is to facilitate the school to implement.
“So we are shifting from the point of view that only the state education department or the PPD can solve problems.
“Actually, those who can solve the problem are at the school level, teachers, principals and headmasters while PPDs as well as the state education departments are only helping,” he said, adding that the talk program had already been done previously and currently it was being carried out only to give a refreshment towards the people in the education stream.
Also present was State Education director Datuk Hajah Maimunah Suhaibul.