Capacity Building for Public Education Officials on Managing Students' Mental Health

As the pandemic has hit the education sector severely, a lot of students were faced with uncertainties, change of routine, and social isolation due to closure of schools (in some instances) and due to changes in the way they were being provided with education. All of these changes and uncertainties, have impacted the overall wellbeing of students, including emotional and mental wellbeing. At the same time, teachers were also faced with difficulties; from learning to use online platforms that they have never used before, to organizing teaching from their own homes. Lastly, parents had their own challenges as well since the school aged children who would normally spend most of their time in schools, were suddenly home struggling to adapt to all the changes. This was often added to the parents’ stress, related to job security, and working from home.

To address these issues as much as possible, WHO Pristina, jointly with Ministry of Education, Institute of Public Health, and University of Pristina, has organized a series of online lectures/mini-workshops related to mental health in school settings during COVID-19. These activities are made possible by the generous donation of the British Embassy. These lectures were held between 11th and 15th of January 2021, and they aim to increase the awareness of teachers and other education-related staff on impacts of COVID-19 on the mental and emotional wellbeing of students, teachers, and parents, and the steps that they can take to address the issues faced by each group. Lectures were led by Professors from the Department of Psychology at the University of Pristina. Each lecture was divided in 3 sections; issues faced & recommended measures for students, parents, and school staff. The last 30 minutes of the lecture were left to questions and discussions with the participants. In addition, teacher have been provided with school activities that they can undertake with their students to make them more resilient during COVID.

The first round of lectures has covered municipalities of Pristina, Peja/Peć, Gjilan/Gnjilane and Ferizaj-Uroševac and the participants were very satisfied with the knowledge gained, as they consider it very valuable to them and their work. After this success, the lectures are expected to be delivered to more municipalities during February and March 2021.