A section of health experts has warned that children’s failure to have enough sleep while at school has contributed to increasing cases of mental wellness issues in schools.
Ms Fatuma Kitimbo, a midwife at Kisenyi Health Center IV and women’s health specialist, said that one of the causes of mental health issues among adolescents is not having enough sleep.
‘As a health practitioner and a national trainer, you find that in most schools, especially the private schools, they mind so much about performance and they forget about the health of the children,’ she said
She said that children are sleeping for fewer hours compared to the recommended eight hours.
‘But you find in most schools, children go for preps up to around 10 pm, and as children, immediately after preps, they can’t sleep. Around midnight. And by 3 am to 4 am, they are up for preps again up to around 5 am, where they are given a few, like 30 minutes, again to go to prepare, wash their uniforms, and go back to classes up to 10 am,’ she added.
She said that such a routine makes a child sleep for very less hours, which affects their mental well-being.
She added that those who cannot keep awake for those hours instead interact with their peers, who end up introducing them to drugs to make them keep awake for longer hours, and in the long run, they end up developing mental problems.
She was speaking at the ongoing four-day training of different stakeholders from government Ministries, Agencies and Departments, civil Society Organizations on mental health and psychosocial support and peace building from the Great Lakes countries, organised by the International Conference on the Great Lakes -Regional Training Facility (ICGLR-RTF)
The training is intended to strengthen the prevention and response to Sexual Gender Based Violence through mainstreaming mental health and psychosocial support in peace-building and conflict response initiatives.
In response, Ms Angela Nansubuga, from the Gender Mainstreaming Unit, Ministry of Education and Sports, acknowledged that the government has taken several interventions to deal with issues of mental health and psychosocial support, especially in schools.
‘We need to have issues of violence against children in schools checked early for our learners to be able to stay and complete their learning cycle,’ she said
She said that, as over 50% of the country’s population has mental wellness issues, many learners also face challenges due to various factors that affect them during the teaching and learning processes, leading to situations of mental distress.
She said this has also contributed much to school dropouts, leading to different strikes which affect the school, and cause many learners to start using alcohol and substances that are not appropriate to their age.
She added that as the ministry they have sent out guidelines and circulars to schools to be able to deal with such issues, in addition to training teachers on issues of mental health and psychosocial support.
Ms Ruth Kintu, the Deputy Head of the Child and Family Protection Department, Uganda Police Force, said that to address mental health concerns, the Force has integrated mental health issues into their curriculum, schedules, budgets, and day-to-day operations.
‘Uganda Police Force, as an institution, took up the challenge and established a department under the police medical services. We have a counseling department. Together with the Child and Family Protection Department and Community Affairs, we reach out to our own as much as we reach out to the public,’ she added
She also attributed some of the past homicide incidents to mental wellness among some of their officers
‘In the recent past, we had many cases where our officers were involved in domestic violence or homicides involving guns,’ she said
She cited the unfortunate incident of an Asian who was gunned down by a police officer along Parliamentary Avenue.
‘Much as the matter is in court, we can’t discuss it further, but the plain facts point to the fact of financial stress.
Mr Arthur Katsigazi, a counselor with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who represented the ICGLR national coordinator and the permanent secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed concern with the increasing cases of sexual violence and exploitation in and around camps for internally displaced persons.
‘This situation is exacerbated by the lack of livelihood opportunities and insufficient humanitarian aid and underscores the urgent need to integrate mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and peacekeeping programs within affected communities,’ he said