Senators concerned about schoolchildren's mental health challenges

INDEPENDENT Senator Paul Richards and Minister in the Agriculture Ministry Avinash Singh expressed concern whether enough is being done to address mental health, suicide and substance-abuse risks confronting students.

They raised their concerns while questioning Education Ministry officials during a virtual meeting of Parliament's Social Services and Public Administration Committee on Friday. Richards is the committee's chairman and Singh is a member.

Richards shared Singh's concern that there were 328 vacancies in the ministry's Student Support Services Division (SSSD). These included vacancies for 127 social workers and 24 psychologists.

Richards wondered how the division coped with any mental health challenges students were facing during the covid19 pandemic, given these deficiencies in its ranks.

Acting Chief Education Officer Lisa Henry-David said the ministry has not thrown its hands up in the air while it works to fill those vacancies. She said the ministry works with the limited resources it has because its personnel love the nation's children.

"We try our best."

Richards replied, "We are not trying to engage in a blame game."

He said the hope was that solutions could be found by bringing issues to the public's attention.

Referring to information provided by the ministry, Singh said, "We have lost 63 students at the secondary school level, 22 students at the primary school level, who were clinically diagnosed as being depressed."

Over the last three years, he continued, nine secondary school students had died by suicide. He asked if the ministry had determined what could have caused these unfortunate developments.

SSSD social work specialist Natalie Robinson-Arnold said the ministry has tried to determine what the contributing factors were, and has collaborated with the Health Ministry to help children who may have mental health issues. Robinson-Arnold said it is possible that some students may have suffered depression because of being physically disconnected from their peers, when in person-classes were initially not allowed because of the pandemic. Schools currently have a mix of online and in-person classes.

She also said challenges that some students faced with negotiating with online learning may have caused them to become depressed.

Later in the meeting, Richards questioned the location of the Centre for Socially Displaced Persons (CSDP) at the Riverside Car Park in Port of Spain. Social Development and Family Services permanent secretary Sheila Seecharan said a non-governmental organisation (NGO) is paid to manage it.

"We are looking at assessing the different categories of persons there and relocating them."

Some of the occupants could be put in homes for the aged, Seecharan said, and the ministry would pay for their care. She hoped this exercise would be completed before year's end

Opposition Senator David Nakhid asked for the name of the NGO operating the CSDP and its budget to do so. Seecharan initially promised to provide the committee with that information in writing.

But responding to subsequent comments from Nakhid, she identified the St Vincent De Paul Society as the NGO.

"The budget, I believe, is over $2 million."

Richards asked if this figure was accurate.

Seecharan replied, "Sorry, I don't want to call a wrong figure, but I will provide the budget to you."

Richards said, "But you already did, you know."

"Did I? Seecharan asked.

Richard replied, "So it's going to be in the newspaper tomorrow. Please confirm it in writing."