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Teachers have been advised to take a keen interest in their mental and overall health issues so that they can manage them effectively, ultimately becoming more productive.
Speaking in turns at a two-day seminar in Accra, the experts repeatedly emphasised the importance of taking a keen interest in mental health, as it would also make them healthy and productive.
This is because any such challenge would not only impact them but also the children they teach.
The experts announced this at a two-day mental health, addiction and emotional intelligence seminar organised by the Ledzokuku Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Education Service.
The event, which was on the theme, “equipping the teacher to address mental health and addiction,” was attended by about 600 basic schoolteachers from both private and public schools in the municipality.
In order not to disrupt academic work in all the schools, the event was divided into three cohorts to ensure that at every point in time, a set of teachers would be in all the schools to continue with academic work.
The seminar was aimed at creating awareness among teachers so that they could detect it early for themselves or their learners, families, staff and people around them.
Addressing the teachers in turns, the Municipal Director of Education for Ledzokuku, Theresa Tetteh, assured the teachers of efforts being made to create an enabling environment for them to work towards the development of education in the municipality and the country.
“As educators, you play a vital role in shaping young minds since mental health, addiction, and emotional intelligence are critical topics that affect us all”, she said.
Again, the municipal director explained that, “addiction can stem from unaddressed emotional struggles. By fostering emotional intelligence, we can equip students with skills to manage stress, build resilience and make informed choices”.
Mrs Tetteh reminded the teachers to empower their students with emotional intelligence and support their mental well-being by integrating such relevant topics into their teaching practices.
A licensed counselling psychologist Seth Adu Annorson, speaking on Emotional Intelligence, challenged teachers to understand their emotions and those of people around them so they could live in peace together.
Mr Richard Opare, a drug therapist and a national drug addiction management trainer, stated that addicts were not criminals or bad people but people who should be loved and assisted to move out of the condition.
He explained that the only challenge with drug addicts was that they did not detect the signs of addiction early, so they could seek support, leading to their predicament of doing drugs to survive.
Mr Opare warned that since addiction was not curable, it would be good for all, irrespective of age, to desist from starting any form of drugs, since once addicted it would be very difficult to stop.
A Professional Licensed Counsellor and an Assistant Registrar, University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) Atkinson Dadebo, challenged teachers not to ignore mental health and general health issues since that was what would help them to be strong in whatever they did.
