By: Ndemowoma Y. Mustapha
I am profoundly concerned about anxiety, depression and violence behaviour among some of the junior and senior secondary school pupils who do not know as well as they wanted to.
We must not forget that the civil war and the Ebola Virus Disease legacies in Sierra Leone's education lives on and the poorest of the poor are still getting an inferior education.
These legacies of the civil war and the EVD run too deep and far back for the past democratic government to reverse the 6-3-4-4 Educational System into play.
Having gone through the president Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio's New Direction manifesto, I came to realise that he has a determination to change the overhaul educational system of the country, thereby restoring it past glory of the "Anthem of West Africa" as was known in the sub-region.
These among other things prompts me to believe that the service of Social Workers are urgently needed in all schools to render behaviour-change programmes as a method of preventing social illnesses in our schools and the communities at large.
Career Guidance and Counseling programmes develop an individual's competencies in Self-knowledge and Self-patching.
Many Sierra Leoneans have only limited access to reliable information on options for education and training after their senior secondary school final examinations (WASSCE).
Counselling helps children suffering from anxiety and depressions and tackles a widely reported crisis in young people's mental health.
Social Workers will enable the children to explore many aspects of their lives and feelings because effective counselling reduces confusion and allows the children to make effective decisions leading to positive change in their attitudes and/or behaviours.
The ultimate aim of counselling will be to help children realise their potentials thereby enabling them to make their own choices, reach their own conclusions and to act upon them accordingly.
Counselling addresses bullying, mental health issues, addictions, bereavement, relationships, trauma, feelings of neglect and stress and low self-esteem.
A good quality education provides pupils with the capabilities they require to become economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute to peaceful and democratic societies and enhance individual well-being.
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