Education Ministry’s Mobile Counselling Unit lends support in Reg. 6
─ students to receive counselling
─ Corentyne Comprehensive High School at Port Mourant is the first school to benefit from the service of the Psychosocial Unit in the region
DPI, Guyana, Saturday, February 2, 2019
The Corentyne Comprehensive High School, at Port Mourant Corentyne, is the first learning institution in the region to have received services from the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) Mobile Psychosocial Unit, following the passing of a student.
The mobile counsel unit, which was commissioned early in November of last year, by the Ministry of Education, is the first of its kind in Guyana. The focus of the unit is to increase the learner’s ability to exercise control, reduce stress levels, enhance learners’ resilience, enable the use of effective coping skills, serve as a quick response to trauma and maximise the support of family and friends.
Speaking with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Region Six’s Education Officer, Valika Mohabir-Jaikishun said that there was an incident which allegedly occurred at the home of a student approximately three months ago, which resulted in the child consuming a poisonous substance. According to Jaikishun, the student passed away earlier this week.
Jaikishun described the creation of a moving counselling machine as a “timely one” and thanked the Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry for “such a wise implementation.”
Additionally, at the Corentyne Comprehensive High School, Chief School’s Welfare Officer, Jillian Bailey-Vyphius, told DPI that the visit to learning facility is to lend support to the school Welfare’s Department and mainly to perform a needs assessment.
“We are here to help individuals and even the family to restore their capacity so that they can function effectively…. We are not going into any specific topics or counselling on our first visit, but we will touch on thoughts and emotions. When we talk with them [the students], we will know their needs, and the ministry will take it from there,” Bailey-Vyphius explained.
According to Bailey-Vyphius, the Psychosocial Unit will lend support to all schools if the need arises.
Earlier this month, the Mobile Psychosocial Unit was deployed at Mae’s Secondary School as part of a special counselling session led by Minister Henry following the death of a student of the school. During the visit to the private education institution, Minister Henry and her team met with, listened and offered support to the administration and students.
Story and Image: by Kellon Rover