School principals have expressed concern over rising levels of emotional ill-health, anxiety and mental health problems in schools since the pandemic.
Enda McGorman, principal of Mary Mother of Hope National School in Dublin 15, told an Oireachtas education committee on Tuesday that teaching staff were not equipped to meet their specialised needs.
“I am acutely aware of the increasing levels of emotional ill health, including anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders and depression, among children in our primary schools. It is clear to me that these problems have escalated considerably since the pandemic,” said Mr McGorman, representing the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN).
Mr McGorman said while staff did their utmost to help children in distress, they were not “experts, psychologists or mental health professionals”, yet this was the type of help many needed.
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“The services providing mental health support to children, while excellent when you can access them, are completely inadequate and understaffed. Children are suffering and getting worse the longer they have to wait for expert help. This has to change,” he said.
Mr Gorman was speaking at a committee which included representatives from school management bodies and principals’ organisations to discuss how the system can better meet the needs of children with mental health problems in education settings.
The IPPN representative said mental health and psychological services provided under different Government departments were separate, disjointed and involved little or no communication about the children accessing the services.
The network called for a more “seamless” form of support across health and education, with teams of professionals in both areas, better training and pilot approaches to support children’s mental health.
The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, which represents school leaders at second level, also expressed concern about students who are not attending school for mental health reasons.
Paul Crone, the association’s director, said that while most students do not have major or persistent issues, students who have withdrawn from attending school very often “fall between the cracks”.
He said most schools do not have access to home school community liaison teachers, which makes it difficult to connect with parents or guardians to positively collaborate in the best interest of the student.
While schools do their best to engage and support students, he said they do not have qualified staff to deliver mental health supports.
“Schools are not medical establishments, they are not treatment centres, they are not counselling clinics, they are in fact schools whose primary responsibility is the delivery and support of learning,” he said.
Mr Crone said stronger links between schools with the professional mental health and therapeutic services would help vulnerable students to reach their full potential in their school.
The National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education said school mental health services are “wholly inadequate” at post primary level and “non-existent” at primary level.
Eileen O’Rourke, the association’s general secretary said that even in a crisis situation — such as a student continually talking about suicide and self-harming — education psychological services are unable to provide any form of concrete support.
“There is no access to appropriate mental health services at primary level or in the special education context,” she said. “Why not allocate a suitably qualified child counsellor to primary schools and special schools as a member of school staff?
“Many children’s difficulties could be identified, and that child given early support, thus cutting down on more urgent need for intervention when things have significantly deteriorated.”
The Joint Managerial Body (JMB), which represents voluntary secondary schools, said one of the most effective measures the State could provide is to bring guidance counselling services up to a level where appropriate supports can be given in schools.
John Curtis of the JMB said austerity-era cuts to these services have undermined the capacity of schools to respond to young people’s needs.
He said that at school and community service levels, the State must begin to recognise the need to invest in fit-for-purpose interventions to professionally support young people with psychological and psychiatric conditions.
