Mental health content in school science textbooks in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is a country of 162·7 million people. Almost a third of this population are children and adolescents (0–14 years), with approximately 24 million enrolled school students in 2018, according to nationwide educational statistics. The national prevalence of mental disorders among children and adolescents is 13·4–22·9%.1Hossain MD Ahmed HU Chowdhury WA Niessen LW Alam DS Mental disorders in Bangladesh: a systematic review.BMC Psychiatry. 2014; 14: 216Crossref PubMed Scopus (94) Google Scholar Globally, health literacy is a core element of patient-centered health care, and educational intervention in schools has a central role in promoting health and strengthening health literacy.2Arafat SMY Majumder MAA Kabir R Papadopoulos K McMaster F Uddin MS Health literacy in school.in: Papalois VE Theodosopoulou M Optimizing health literacy for improved clinical practices. IGI Global, Hershey, PA2018: 175-197Crossref Google Scholar Mental health literacy evolved from the concept of health literacy. It has been defined as “(1) understanding how to obtain and maintain positive mental health; (2) understanding mental disorders and their treatments; (3) decreasing stigma related to mental disorders; and (4) enhancing help-seeking efficacy”.3Kutcher S Wei Y Gilberds H et al.A school mental health literacy curriculum resource training approach: effects on Tanzanian teachers' mental health knowledge, stigma and help-seeking efficacy.Int J Ment Health Syst. 2016; 10: 50Crossref PubMed Scopus (55) Google Scholar A mental health literacy curriculum for school students is an effective way to increase mental health literacy, and such a school-based approach has been shown to significantly improve knowledge of mental health and help-seeking behavior in Canada and east Africa.2Arafat SMY Majumder MAA Kabir R Papadopoulos K McMaster F Uddin MS Health literacy in school.in: Papalois VE Theodosopoulou M Optimizing health literacy for improved clinical practices. IGI Global, Hershey, PA2018: 175-197Crossref Google Scholar, 3Kutcher S Wei Y Gilberds H et al.A school mental health literacy curriculum resource training approach: effects on Tanzanian teachers' mental health knowledge, stigma and help-seeking efficacy.Int J Ment Health Syst. 2016; 10: 50Crossref PubMed Scopus (55) Google Scholar In Bangladesh, 154 612 public and private schools were recorded in 2018 in the national statistics. Science is taught from books that form part of the national curriculum and are approved by the Bangladesh National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) (apart from in a few schools that follow the British curriculum). I evaluated whether the science books of primary level and secondary level education contained basic information about mental health problems or disorders. I downloaded eight books: three of junior class (8–10 years) and five of secondary class (11–15 years) from the website of the NCTB. The books were also reviewed by a clinical psychologist, a non-medical professional (cartoonist), an English teacher and International English Language Testing System examiner, and a secondary school student. Before giving reviews, I briefly trained the panel on mental health concepts (including disorder types, causes, clinical features, treatment and prevention, stigma-reducing measures, and mental health promotion measures) via a school mental health curriculum resource approach.3Kutcher S Wei Y Gilberds H et al.A school mental health literacy curriculum resource training approach: effects on Tanzanian teachers' mental health knowledge, stigma and help-seeking efficacy.Int J Ment Health Syst. 2016; 10: 50Crossref PubMed Scopus (55) Google Scholar These reviews identified most of the school books to contain no information about basic mental health concepts; the health information only focused on physical diseases, their treatment, and preventive measures. The only exception was one science text book for a senior class (target age of around 15 years), in which the authors briefly mentioned promotion of mental health in adolescents. The Government of Bangladesh published national plans for adolescent health policy in 20164Ministry of Health and Family WelfareGovernment of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. National strategy for adolescent health 2017–2030.http://coastbd.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/National-Strategy-for-Adolescent-Health-2017-2030-Final-Full-Book-21-06-17.pdfDate: Dec, 2016Date accessed: January 2, 2020Google Scholar and 2018,5Ministry of Health and Family WelfareGovernment of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. National plan of action for adolescent health strategy 2017–2030.https://dghs.gov.bd/images/docs/Strategy/National%20Plan%20of%20Action%20for%20Adolescent%20Health%20Strategy%202017-2030%20Final.pdfDate: 2018Date accessed: December 30, 2019Google Scholar which ignored the inclusion of mental health information in textbooks. However, educating the population of a country the size of Bangladesh by alternative means such as discrete awareness building programmes is not feasible. Incorporating basic information about mental health in school textbooks could be a cost-effective and evidence-based measure to promote mental health in Bangladesh. I declare no competing interests.