Formulate proper plan on mental health in schools

Now that schools are closed until February 6, according to the 2023 school calendar that was released by the Ministry of Education and Sports, it is time to retrospectively review the events, especially those that threatened to weigh them down this year. 
The rampant fires that killed several students, injured others and destroyed property, the wave of strikes that swept through a number of schools, the suicide by students and even teachers and mental health of learners and teachers were common. Now is a good time to start devising applicable and sustainable ways to mitigate the reoccurrence of the above misfortunes.
 
Last week, in a story titled: “Ministry asks partners to support mental health in schools” (See Daily Monitor December 2, 2022), we reported that the Minister of State for Higher Education,  Mr John Chrysostom Muyingo, had asked development partners to train teachers and counsellors to support people with mental illnesses in schools and other related illnesses to prevent cases from escalating.
The minister expressed worry that stress-related incidences would continue to increase and asked stakeholders to work together to promote mental health and psycho-social support among learners and families.

The minister is right but so is everyone who has mentioned the need for counselling and psycho-social support for students and teachers. The question now should be how to implement this in a way that is effective but also affordable and to ensure access to all schools regardless of their location because mental ill-health is no respecter of persons. 
If teachers were skilled to provide these services, would they be able to put aside loyalty to their employers and do whatever is necessary to ensure the mental health of learners? Should independent counsellors be posted to schools? Who will pay them? How often should they visit schools enough to create rapport with learners and in turn establish trust and openness?  
What about the teachers, who will counsel them? Will they be willing to open up to a school-sponsored counsellor even if what is shared could be used against them and put them at risk of losing their jobs? How can parents be brought on board so that they don’t undo the good work of the counsellor when they treat their children with absolutely no regard for their mental health? How can this mental health be taken care of even when learners are home for holidays?
These and many more questions should be what we are trying to find answers to, so that we can have a working and realistic plan on promotion of mental health in schools by the time the term opens.