One-Day Meditation Ordered in All Educational Institutions to Protect Student’s Mental Health

❐ News report

The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSE) under the Ministry of Education has issued 10 guidelines for all schools and colleges in the country to promote the mental well-being and healthy lifestyle of teachers and students.

According to the instructions, a one-day training on ‘Scientific Lifestyle Development and Mental Health Care Activities’ will be organized for teachers and students in all educational institutions under the Directorate.

As part of this program, it has also been said that one-day meditation or mental health training will be organized in educational institutions.

A memorandum issued by the Ministry of Justice recently provided detailed instructions in this regard. It includes a total of 10 instructions.

The notification signed by Maushi Director (Secondary) Professor Dr. Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud Sohel said that this training program will be conducted based on a manual prepared by the non-governmental organization Quantum Foundation as per the instructions of the Ministry of Education.

The notification mentioned that under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Maushi and Quantum Foundation, this training will be organized free of cost at all secondary level educational institutions under the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education at their own venues.

The directive states that the head of each educational institution will organize a one-day training program for teachers and students in consultation with Quantum Foundation’s registered and designated volunteer trainers.

A monitoring pool must be formed in each institution to continue regular practice activities after training.

This monitoring pool will supervise the daily practice activities of the students as per the guidelines mentioned in the training manual. At the same time, counseling services and other instructions will also be implemented as needed.

The guidelines also state that newly admitted students every year should also be covered under this training. If necessary, training can be organized in batches if the number of students is large.

It has been said that parents should also be informed about this program, emphasizing the prevention of non-communicable diseases and protecting the mental health of students. If necessary, educational institutions can also bring parents under the scope of training.

As per the instructions, the heads of institutions will implement this program in collaboration with the education officers of the concerned region, district, police station or upazila. If necessary, the central training program coordinator of Quantum Foundation can be contacted for training related matters.

In addition, the directive mentions that members of Bangladesh Scouts (Scouts at the school level and Rover Scouts at the college level) will be involved as volunteers in the implementation of training programs and subsequent monitoring activities.