Counsellors will be installed at schools across Tayside as part of a £5 million bid to improve pupils’ mental wellbeing, The Courier can reveal.
The ambitious plan aims to provide struggling students aged 10 and up with free professional support, even during school holidays.
Education chiefs at Perth and Kinross, Dundee and Angus councils are preparing the scheme, which has been described as “especially timely” by a leading mental health charity.
It comes as a new study reveals how mental health has deteriorated amongst Scottish teenagers, especially amongst 13-year-old girls and 15-year-old boys.
The Tayside plan is expected to launch in November. It will be paid for via a £60m fund unveiled by the Scottish Government last year.
The Scottish Association of Mental Health (SAMH), which has been campaigning for school counsellors since 2017, has praised the move and said it will be of particular help to pupils returning to school after a potentially distressing lockdown period.
Jo Anderson, the charity’s director of external affairs, said: “We welcome this collaborative approach across Tayside to increase availability of this important service.
“This announcement is especially timely given that children and young people are dealing with a lot of change as they return to school, and evidence gathers about the impact of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing.”
She has also called for extra support for teachers and other school staff, citing a study carried out by SAMH in 2018 that showed two-thirds of teachers did not feel they had enough mental health training.
“Now more than ever teachers need the skills and knowledge to recognise and respond to a pupil who is experiencing a mental health problem,” said Ms Anderson. “This is why we want to see a consistent national mental health and wellbeing training programme.
“Over the lockdown period, we have seen a significant increase in those accessing our online e-learning – “We All Have Mental Health” – which was specifically designed for teachers.”
A procurement process, valued at £4.7 million, has been launched by local councils. They say the plan ties in with the ongoing Tayside Mental Health strategy.
A spokesman for the Tayside Procurement Consortium, which is leading the bid, said: “Angus, Perth and Kinross, and Dundee City councils are undertaking a joint procurement exercise to ensure that high quality comprehensive counselling services are available to children and young people in schools across Tayside from November 2020.
“Counsellors in schools will help support young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health as part of the continuum of support available in our schools.”
He said: “A counselling services co-ordinator has been appointed to co-ordinate, monitor and evaluate these services across Tayside.”
It is understood the aim is for each secondary school to have access to at least one counsellor.
The Scottish Government said its four-year nationwide plan was agreed with authority umbrella body Cosla.
Announcing the fund before lockdown, mental health minister Clare Haughey said: “Children and young people can face many issues growing up and must have the right support available at the right time.”
