In South Sudan, years of conflict, displacement and poverty have created significant challenges for education, particularly for children who have experienced trauma and other mental health problems.
Many teachers lack the necessary training and skills to address these issues, which affect learners’ academic progress and well-being. To address this, WCHO in a consortium with FCA through funding from DG ECHO is implementing a psychosocial support (PSS) training program aimed at equipping teachers with the skills to identify and respond to trauma, support learners with special needs, make referrals and create inclusive learning environments. 72 (M=48, F=24) participants attended and actively participated during a three days’ training on psychosocial support, climate smart education and sustainable practices.
Participants included teachers, officials from the State Ministry of General Education and Instructions and State Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare. The topics covered during the training included stress and relaxation, circle of influence, compassion in classrooms, how to identify and support learners with Mental Health and Psychosocial concerns and challenging behaviors as teachers, how to provide Psychological First Aid and make referrals and exercises and activities for the learners to enhance their mental wellbeing. Under Climate smart Education, topics included understanding climatic change, causes and negative impacts of climatic change on education, natural resource and waste management.
In the area of sustainable practices, key topics included comprehensive understanding of sustainable practices, pillars of sustainability and examples of the common sustainable practices. The training was blended with group discussions and role plays.