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Students’ mental health ‘always been a priority’, says Chan Chun Sing in update after River Valley High School death

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - Schools across Singapore have over the past five months ramped up efforts to boost students' well-being. This comes after the death of a River Valley High School student in July cast youth mental health issues into the spotlight. Mental health education lessons - which encourage students to seek help when needed and build resilience - have been rolled out to all lower secondary students, under the refreshed character and citizenship education curriculum. These lessons will be progressively introduced to all primary, secondary and pre-university levels over the next two years, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on Saturday (Dec 11). The mental well-being of students has "always been a priority" for his ministry, he stressed in an update following his ministerial statement in July on the River Valley High School incident. Since September, all schools have set aside time and space at the start of each term for teachers to check in on their students' well being, said Mr Chan, who was speaking at the launch of the e-book "Project: It'll Be Alright". "Teachers have been given practical pedagogical resources to monitor and support students' well-being," he added, "Lesson a...

SeaPRwire

Google to give staff additional bonus this year

elean
1 minute

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Alphabet's Google said on Wednesday (Dec 8) it will give an additional bonus to its employees globally this year, as the tech giant pushes back its return-to-office plan. Google will give all employees, including the company's extended workforce and interns, a one-time cash bonus of US$1,600 (S$2,180) or equivalent value in their country this month, a company spokesman told Reuters. The latest benefit is in addition to Google's work-from-home allowance and well-being bonus, to support its employees during the coronavirus pandemic, the spokesman said, without giving details on how much the company has set aside in total for the purpose. Earlier in March, Google's internal survey showed a drop in its employee well-being over the past year, after which the company announced a series of benefits, including a US$500 well-being cash bonus. Last week, Google delayed its return-to-office plan indefinitely amid Omicron variant fears and some resistance from its employees to company-mandated vaccinations. It earlier expected staff to return to office from Jan 10. More on this topic Related Story 'Reset days' boost staff well-being at Google Related Story Bosses, if your...

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National mental well-being campaign launched to equip people with skills to help

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - A national mental well-being campaign has been launched to normalise talking about mental health issues and to equip all Singaporeans with the skills needed to support their family and friends. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) on Saturday (Oct 30) launched It's OKAY to Reach Out, its inaugural mental health campaign comprising 130 programmes, including workshops and dialogue sessions that will take place between next month and March the following year. It will be complemented by the late-November roll-out of an online portal providing nationwide mental health resources called MindSG, with content curated by doctors and psychologists. The portal is developed by HPB and the Government, along with mental health experts, and was one of the recommendations the Covid-19 mental wellness task force made in August. Dr Janil Puthucheary, who chairs the task force and is Senior Minister of State for Health, and Communications and Information, said the campaign was about creating a "national narrative" that includes both those who need help and those rendering it. "We want to encourage two groups of people - the individual to reach out for help but also the people who are listening...

SeaPRwire

National Care Hotline for psychological first-aid received more than 45,000 calls since April last year

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - The National Care Hotline, which provides psychological first aid and emotional support to those who dial in, has fielded more than 45,000 calls since it was set up in April last year. Revealing these numbers at a conference on Saturday morning (Aug 14), Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary added that the Covid-19 pandemic has been a stress-test of the country's mental health and healthcare systems. "This pandemic will continue to pose a challenge to the mental well-being and health of the population, since the impact is likely to last for some years to come," he said. Dr Janil was speaking at the Asia-Pacific Mindfulness Conference, which featured a series of local and international experts sharing their views on topics such as mindfulness and mental well-being. The virtual conference, held over nine days between Saturday and Aug 29, was organised by mental wellness charity Brahm Centre. More than 6,000 people from 59 countries signed up for the event. One topic that came up frequently in discussions on Saturday was the pandemic's impact on Singaporeans' mental well-being. For instance, a series of polls by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS)...

SeaPRwire

Digital resources available to help parents learn about children’s mental well-being: Eric Chua

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - Parents today can tap on a variety of digital resources to better support their children's mental health, said Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Eric Chua. These include the Share-the-Care video series by Families for Life, which covers topics such as building strong family relationships, as well as his ministry's Positive Parenting Programme (Triple P) that outlines evidence-based techniques to promote children's psychological, social and emotional competence. On top of that, the Temasek Foundation and Agency for Integrated Care has developed a microsite to address mental health challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Chua said. Mr Chua was responding to Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon GRC), who had asked about inter-ministry efforts to promote youth mental health awareness among parents. On the reach of the Triple P, he said more than 30,000 parents had benefited from the programme to date. After three months, parents reported a 20 per cent reduction in their children's scores for problematic behaviour, as well as their own parenting stress scores. He added that more than 1,500 individuals - including young people, parents and mental health p...