Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to a report from Future Minds, which examines the decline in the mental health of children and young people.
“Schools and colleges share the concerns expressed in this report about the significant number of children and young people who are suffering from poor mental health and wellbeing. These students often struggle with attendance and attainment as a result of the emotional distress they are experiencing, and this in turn can affect their future life chances.
“Schools and colleges strive to provide these young people with the pastoral care they need, but their resources are under severe pressure because of the lack of adequate funding. We welcome the ongoing rollout of mental health support teams to work with schools and colleges, but young people requiring specialist treatment continue to encounter long waits and difficulty in accessing overwhelmed local mental health services. The roadmap set out in the Future Minds reports seems clear and sensible and we urge the government to take urgent action.”