News | The Pandemic
After the storm Post Covid school counselling By Natasha Parrant
Mental health is very important and it’s essential students have someone to talk to when they’re going through a hard time, especially post-Covid. That’s why Aotearoa needs to have enough guidance counsellors to ensure there’s enough support so students, especially young tamariki, can feel their absolute best. The impact mental health has on young people is significant. A Health Promotion Agency (te hiringa hauora) report on Mental Health in Aotearoa, with results from the 2018 Mental Health Monitor and the 2018/2019 New Zealand Health Survey, shows the mental health statistics of young News Zealanders. The report shows one in five adults aged 15 years and over are diagnosed with a mood and/or anxiety disorder (Ministry of Health, 2019). Those aged 15-24 years old deal with anxiety and high mental distress much more than other older age groups. Young people are also more likely than older age groups to suffer longterm psychological damage that affects their everyday lives. For instance, 35 percent of 15–17 year-olds reported they had a tough time socialising and communicating due to an emotional, psychological or psychiatric situation. Younger people’s mental health is quite bad (Kvalsvig, 2016). Young people in New Zealand also have the highest suicide rates in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2017).
Link to the report: www.hpa.org.nz/ sites/default/files/Mental_Health_ Aotearoa_Insight_2020.pdf. According to the Ministry of Education (MoE) the Counselling in Schools (CiS) programme, which was formally instigated by associate minister of education Jan Tinetti, launched for about 24,290 learners to ensure students have good mental health and wellbeing so they can thrive. MoE’s hautū (leader) in operations and integration, Sean Teddy, says “We have known for some time that a lack of mental wellbeing for some of our tamariki is getting in the way of their attendance, engagement, and success, exacerbated by the impacts from COVID-19. “Schools create a sense of belonging and routine that supports the wellbeing of many ākonga, and the disruptions to routines and relationships caused by Covid have impacted some ākonga.” It is essential students receive the support they need. This is why there is a CiS as it aims to support students as soon as they need it once a referral is made. The MoE has received positive feedback from participating schools regarding this initiative. Students have commented on how appreciated they feel to have someone in their school they can go to about their issues or just someone to talk to. Schools have also responded about how they are grateful to have professional counsellors working in their schools and “lifting this work off the teachers and other support staff,” Sean says.
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“Government investment for counselling support most recently, Vote Health through Budget 2022 has provided $89.34 million over four years to support an extension of mental health wellbeing supports through Mana Ake to NZ schools.
In 2020, the initiative to deliver counselling support in the country invests $44 million over four years, as part of a $200 million package to improve wellbeing for learners due to Covid. This incentive means local community organisations can provide counselling to roughly 164 primary, intermediate, area, and smaller secondary schools. Included in this incentive is also $31.8 million dollars specifically for guidance counselling. Big secondary schools received an increase of 0.4 Full-Time Teacher Equivalents (FTTE) in their guidance staffing entitlement.
As a result, about 90 new FTTE positions to hire guidance counsellors, careers guidance, and pastoral care has been created across 215 big secondary schools and kura to accommodate more students. The initiative is in addition to the $15 million to further support Auckland students to engage more in learning in 2021 and 2022 as announced last year, which included an additional $1.5 million in counselling support to improve student wellbeing, particularly focusing on Year 6-9 students, Sean says. “Government investment for counselling support most recently, Vote Health through Budget 2022 has provided $89.34 million over four years to support an extension of mental health wellbeing supports through Mana Ake to NZ schools. “Mana Ake is being expanded into the Northland, Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty, Lakes, and West Coast District Health Board (DHB), regions to provide mental wellbeing supports to up to 195,000 primary and intermediate-aged learners. “These reflect the needs of each community and will likely include whole-of-classroom approaches to promote mental wellbeing and increase resilience across the whole school population, as well as targeted initiatives delivered face-to-face for children experiencing mild to moderate levels of distress. “There will also likely be group-based support and support for whānau.” School counselling will occur in the participating schools for three years, during this time, an evaluation of the CiS initiative is expected to be completed in May 2024.
