Mental health: Schools urged to do more for kids

Safe spaces needed for students who may face problems seeking help: President Halimah

President Halimah Yacob touring Republic Polytechnic's agriculture technology laboratory during her visit yesterday. She also toured its Student Care Centre, which caters to students with mental health issues as well as special education and other ne
President Halimah Yacob touring Republic Polytechnic's agriculture technology laboratory during her visit on Dec 17, 2020. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
President Halimah Yacob speaking with students at Republic Polytechinc’s Student Care Centre. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Educational institutions can do more to create safe spaces for students who may face problems seeking help for mental health issues, said President Halimah Yacob.

During a visit to Republic Polytechnic (RP) yesterday, Madam Halimah noted that students may not have the courage to confide in their lecturers or teachers, or they may think there is a stigma related to mental health issues.

"We need to provide a safe environment for the students, for them to feel that it's okay - 'I have a mental health problem, I can seek help and I will get the help and I will be able to continue to perform well'."

The President spoke to the media after touring RP's Student Care Centre, which caters to students with mental health issues as well as special education and other needs.

The 208 sq m centre opened in June last year after a revamp. It has two rooms for conferences, five for counselling, two sensory rooms and an assistive technology library, where students with special needs can borrow assistive devices.

The sensory rooms are private and quiet places for students who may be prone to anxiety issues or panic attacks - a space for students to calm themselves when they are feeling anxious in school.

Madam Halimah lauded RP for its efforts in providing support for its students.

Ms Sher Yuan, 18, a second-year student reading pharmaceutical science, said she frequently visits the centre and makes use of the sensory rooms. She has autism spectrum disorder. "When I'm feeling stressed, I'll go to the centre to revise my homework or have a quick chat with the counsellors," she said, adding that the sensory rooms help her to calm down.

The sensory rooms are private and quiet places for students who may be prone to anxiety issues or panic attacks. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

The rooms are also equipped with a panic button for students to alert a counsellor in times of emergency.

The polytechnic said that prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, around 20 to 30 students visited the centre daily for a variety of reasons - financial aid queries, counselling matters, scholarships, student support issues such as shuttle bus services, as well as to borrow assistive technology equipment.

Madam Halimah also visited RP's agriculture technology laboratory during her visit. The lab, which uses technology to optimise plant growth, is used mainly by students in RP's School of Applied Science and also hosts continuing education and training for adult learners. It was launched in January last year.

Madam Halimah said: "This lab provides a platform for students to gain real experience in the needs of the agritech industry... RP is supporting our goal of '30 by 30' and helping to grow the industry."

The "30 by 30" goal is for Singapore to produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.

"This is really the need of the future... The normal way of growing food is no longer going to be very sustainable in the long term, because of the tremendous use of land, energy and water," she added.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 18, 2020, with the headline Mental health: Schools urged to do more for kids. Subscribe