‘Happy schooling 2.0’’ on in corpn schools

Madurai: ‘Happy Schooling 2.0’ programme was inaugurated on Saturday at Elango Corporation Higher Secondary School with teachers from corporation schools in Madurai taking part in training on mental health awareness and psychological impact of Covid-19 pandemic on school students.

‘Happy Schooling’ is an initiative jointly organized by Madurai Corporation, HCL Foundation and MS Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation to provide stress management and goal management for students and teachers in several corporation schools in Madurai city. The first phase of the programme was launched in 2018 and more than 13,000 students and 570 teachers in 24 schools are being covered. “Mental health awareness is still low. Teachers spend most time with children as they grow up. Hence, they must ideally become capable of taking care of both physical and mental health of students,” said Dr C Ramasubramanian, founder, MS Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation.

The senior psychiatrist said that teachers must remind and reinforce Covid-19 safety measures among students and also help alleviate fear about Covid-19. “Many children have lost their parents or family members due to Covid-19 and on the other hand, there is a fear that children will be most affected in the third wave of the pandemic. The children have also had less social interactions and have developed addiction to mobile phones. Teachers must monitor them and notice their behaviour,” he said.

A round-the-clock helpline (9375493754) is also functional with counselors cater to the needs of students in distress. Any student can reach out to the helpline if he/she has any concerns over their mental well-being or feel any mental distress. TNN


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