Fallout of societal lockdowns on children cannot be ignored

INTO is seeking direct funding of €20 per pupil to enable schools to introduce specialist counselling and therapeutic supports for pupils with mental health challenges

Children suffered greatly during the pandemic.

As the new term starts, many teachers are observing a growing mental health crisis among thousands of primary school children.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, frontline child welfare workers predicted a “tsunami” of problems. Societal lockdowns have contributed to an increased presentation of conditions such as chronic anxiety, depression, and social isolation.

To date, the Government’s response has been completely inadequate, and if urgent, targeted action is not taken soon, many of these children risk suffering from the long-term effects of emotional or psychological trauma.

The HSE-run Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) has seen a 40% year-on-year increase in caseload.

John Boyle: Long-term solutions needed to tackle children's mental health struggles. Picture: Moya Nolan

Despite this increased demand, psychological and psychiatric support services for childrenfall far short of their needs.

Currently, more than 4,127 await assessment with Camhs, and 521 have been waiting for an appointment for more than 12 months, while the under-resourced National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) currently provides on average only one educational psychologist to every 18 schools.

The crisis is compounded by a well-publicised staff retention and recruitment crunch at Camhs, leaving real questions about its capacity to respond to the needs of vulnerable children.

These underlying issues are not being addressed, the current Government is “caught in the headlights” and appears incapable or unwilling to act.

Primary teachers see the impact of adverse mental health and emotional and behavioural issues first-hand. In a recent report psychologists from NUI Maynooth outlined that “mental health problems emerge in early childhood, with almost half of the acute mental illnesses occurring by the age of 14”.

Failure to provide early intervention or ignoring the issue will have a serious long-term impact on the wellbeing of the next generation.

Governments cannot be allowed to continue neglecting vulnerable pupils in primary schools in this way.

It is crucial that the coming budget targets much needed supports, programmes, and training, to be delivered in primary school settings.

Direct funding

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) is seeking direct funding of €20 per pupil to enable schools to introduce specialist counselling and therapeutic supports for pupils who are struggling to achieve their potential due to mental health challenges.

The long-term solutions need to focus on interventions at school level, beef-up NEPS and Camhs, and act on the learnings of the pilot In-School and Early Years Therapy Support Demonstration Project.

This pioneering pilot scheme is running across 75 schools and connects school communities and teachers with occupational and speech and language therapists assigned to their schools.

Teachers value working alongside therapists as it enabled tailored intervention matching children’s needs. They also found that the strategies, skills and information they acquired as a team helped them to identify needs, created more positive interactions with pupils, and resulted in more positive academic engagement.

While this approach will require sustained commitment and investment, it is a prudent investment that addresses the needs of children at the earliest opportunity and must be expanded nationwide.

The embedding of the scheme is a prudent economic move as it would reduce the need for costly clinical referrals of children.

INTO members are dedicated to making primary classrooms the safest possible learning spaces for all, but the government needs to provide funding.

Overcrowded classrooms

Overcrowded classrooms are a barrier to achieving the optimum environment for teaching and learning.

Ireland averages one teacher for every 23.3 pupils, well above the EU average of 20.

Alarmingly there are more than 66,000 children in classes of 30 or more with these supersized classes found in every single county this year.

Reducing class sizes by two points on budget day will ensure teachers can more closely monitor individual pupils and intervene earlier to help children with specific needs from September 2023.

In our pre-budget submission, we have provided considered, costed, evidence-based solutions which have the potential to transform classroom learning and further support pupils needing behavioural and emotional intervention, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The proposals outlined in this article would cost approximately €41m annually; a drop in the ocean when it comes to supporting the mental health of this generation.

Last September, the Minister for State for Special Education and inclusion Josepha Madigan said: “It is imperative that young people who have been impacted severely in the period of remote teaching and learning are provided with additional supports to enable them to make progress and mitigate the loss of learning that they experienced.”

The INTO wholeheartedly agrees, and now is the time for the Government to deliver.

John Boyle is general secretary of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation