Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 February 2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many schools Education Scotland and NHS Health Scotland will deliver mental health first aid training to in (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19.
We take child and adolescent mental health very seriously. We know that prevention and early intervention make a big difference in reducing the risk of developing mental health problems.
Since 2014, Education Scotland has been delivering Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid Training for Children and Young People to secondary school staff across 18 local authorities.
In 2017-18 the Scottish Mental Health First Aid Training (SMHFA) has been delivered to 67 secondary schools across Scotland. 33 of the practitioners who attended the training went on to attend an additional element of the programme called ‘Training for Trainers’. This allows these practitioners to train local staff to deliver the training in their schools.
The numbers of schools to be trained in 2018-19 has still to be confirmed. The SHMFA programme will continue to be offered to schools across Scotland. This training complements a range of mental health strategies that are already in place within schools and local authorities.