A new pilot project aims to prepare school leaders to deal with students with mental health problems. “Mental health problems and misbehavior among children and young people in particular affect everyday school life and have a long-term impact on job satisfaction and teachers’ health,” said Education Minister Christian Piwarz (CDU) in a statement. In order to counteract this, school leaders must be strengthened preventively.
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As part of the pilot project, school management will be provided with professional and practical assistance, said Piwarz. “In this way, we are making an important contribution to teachers’ health and to maintaining the workforce.”
In cooperation with the Dresden University Hospital and the Saxon Hospital Arnsdorf, digital and personal forms of information and support will be tested and set up from autumn. In addition to imparting knowledge about emotional problems or behavioral disorders in students and how to deal with them, the training courses also focus on improving the use of resources through digitalization, for example through online training material.
250 schools in Dresden and Bautzen district involved
Initially, 150 schools in Dresden and 100 schools in the Bautzen district are involved. The findings from the project will then be expanded to cover the whole of Saxony.
The project was praised by the Green coalition partner. Christin Melcher, education policy spokeswoman for the Green Party, said it sounded promising. “Knowledge about mental disorders and concrete guidelines for action are good recipes for combating the feeling of powerlessness and helplessness that sometimes spreads.” The Greens supported the Ministry of Education in its efforts to extensively promote and support the health of teachers.
A new pilot project aims to prepare school leaders to deal with students with mental health problems. “Mental health problems and misbehavior among children and young people in particular affect everyday school life and have a long-term impact on job satisfaction and teachers’ health,” said Education Minister Christian Piwarz (CDU) in a statement. In order to counteract this, school leaders must be strengthened preventively.
As part of the pilot project, school management will be provided with professional and practical assistance, said Piwarz. “In this way, we are making an important contribution to teachers’ health and to maintaining the workforce.”
