Cape Town - More than 14 000 tertiary students have reached out to the Department of Higher Education's Higher Health programmes in the last year, in need of psychosocial support relating to disruptions mainly caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande acknowledged the surge in the number of students experiencing mental health challenges, with 30% of students facing academic stress or anxiety, 22% dealing with substance abuse and 18% experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts.
“The department regards addressing mental health as part of a holistic approach to the health and wellbeing of staff and students.
Therefore, the department is funding Higher Health to the tune of R20,604 million for 2022/2023, R27,530 million in 2023/2024, R28,440 million in 2024/2025 and R29,714 million 2025/6 to implement a comprehensive and integrated programme promoting health and well-being of students and staff additional to the allocated budget in the baseline for each institution,” said Nzimande.
He was responding to parliamentary questions by DA MP Nomsa Tarabella-Marchesi, who wanted to know about steps being taken to capacitate institutions of higher learning to deal with mental health challenges.
Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) spokesperson Lauren Kansley said in 2021, the department facilitated 4122 therapy sessions.
“The department is still seeing an increase in counselling requests compared to 2021 and students mostly self-refer to utilise the service.
This speaks to the continued promotion and advocacy of services that the department annually embarks on, utilising various mediums such as social media, e-learning technology, academic networks, and CPUT marketing platforms to communicate its services to students,” said Kansley.
According to UWC spokesperson Gasant Abarder the highest mental health presentations were depression and anxiety.
“During Covid-19, presentations for support with family relational problems and adjustment also increased.
This is understandable given that since 2020 university students have had to cope not only with the transition to online learning without face-to-face engagement, but also with issues such as illness, grief, financial instability and increased responsibilities.
“In 2021, 5373 students accessed mental health support services at the Centre for Student Support Services (CSSS). A total of 4 876 students contacted the online counselling careline, 475 students received one-on-one counselling sessions and 22 psychometric assessments were conducted,” said Abarder.
He said UWC has a 24-hour toll-free Crisis Counselling Careline for all registered students across the country.
The university also approved an Integrated Student Mental Health and Wellness Policy in July 2020.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said they saw an increase of about 20% in cases handled by Student Wellness Service (SWS) in 2021 compared to the previous year.
“Factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic as well as others such as financial challenges, academic issues and relationships issues contributed to this increase.
“UCT continues to put in place measures intended to support students’ mental health as much as possible. The university has intensified health promotion and awareness for students, including the 24-hour counselling services to complement the SWS primary health clinic services.”
Cape Times