The Sensus Center for Psychological Support has completed a series of three street actions as part of its campaign to improve access to psychological support for secondary school students in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC).
The street actions were held in Mostar, Jablanica and Konjic, where citizens had the opportunity to discuss the importance of accessible psychological support for young people and learn more about the initiative to employ school psychologists in all secondary schools in HNC. During the three actions, more than 500 signatures of support for the initiative were collected, giving citizens an opportunity to directly support advocacy for a systemic solution to ensure access to psychological support in secondary schools.
“These actions were important to us because we wanted the conversation about psychological support to move beyond institutions and project documents and reach citizens directly. The conversations we had in Mostar, Jablanica and Konjic showed us that there is interest in openly discussing this issue and seeking concrete solutions. More than 500 signatures of support are an important signal for us that this issue needs to continue being addressed systematically,” said the Sensus Center for Psychological Support.
The initiative advocated by Sensus aims to ensure accessible and continuous psychological support for students by employing school psychologists in secondary schools across HNC. Particular emphasis is placed on implementing the Pedagogical Standards and Norms and creating the conditions for psychological support to become an integral part of the regular student support system. In the previous period, in addition to engaging directly with citizens, Sensus presented the initiative to relevant stakeholders, including schools, civil society organizations and institutions, with the aim of opening a dialogue on possible steps towards its implementation.
The initiative has been submitted to the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the Government of HNC. Sensus now expects a response to the submitted proposal, as well as information on the next steps in the process of ensuring psychological support for secondary school students.
