Professional counsellors should be employed in primary and secondary schools to deal with mental health, the Presidential Working Party on education reforms was told in Meru.
Dr Monica Gitonga, a clinical psychologist said behaviours exhibited in some children was a mental health issue and should be addressed as a matter of urgency by developing structures to deal with the situation.
She said cases of children committing suicide, minors getting engaged in queer behaviour such as rape, sodomy and drug abuse is triggered by incidents at early age that could be addressed through counseling.
“We should have professionals to deal with mental health of our children from baby class because minor incidents such as bereavement at an early age affects one’s mental health which blows up at teenage or when they join the university,” Dr Gitonga said.
“We invest a lot of resources deploying professionals to teach academic subjects but we don’t seem to care about the mental health of those being taught. It is a shame that teachers who are not trained in counselling are in charge of this important aspect of our children’s lives,” she added.
She spoke on Tuesday at Meru Teachers College when the education reforms team collected views from residents and professionals.
Prof Romanus Odhiambo, the Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) vice-chancellor said with most parents agreeing that junior secondary school should be domiciled in primary or day schools, the management should be separate.
“Administrative structures should be created so that teachers manning the secondary section are different from those at the primary level to ensure professionalism,” he said.
He said various bursaries that are given out by MPs, governors, and the President should be merged and a body to manage them created, saying the current situation where bursaries are issued by different entities creates confusion with the danger of funds being misappropriated.
Residents were also concerned about cultural aspects of the junior secondary for boys saying placing the junior in high schools would disadvantage boys who were not circumcised.
On funding of university education, Prof Odhiambo said despite the government committing to finance institutions of higher learning to the tune of 80 per cent, only 46 per cent is remitted.
“If universities could get the 80 per cent according to the law we would not be complaining of lack of funds. The funding for research should also be capped at two per cent of the GDP whereas currently it is less than 0.05 per cent,” he said, adding that TVET universities should be established so that the country trains more skilled work force.
The Meru County Education Board suggested the government should employ Early Childhood Education (ECD) teachers who were important in molding learners, saying some counties were not taking ECD seriously yet it was the most important stage in the learning process.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) said the government should train more teachers to deal with the huge workload brought about by the Competence Based Curriculum.
“In order to increase enrollment into teacher training colleges, the minimum grade should be lowered. Currently colleges are recording low student population because of the high grade required for admission,” said Mr Muthomi Njira, the KUPPET Meru branch chairman. BY DAILY NATION