Malaysian schools need more mental health professionals amid rising student crises, say experts

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — A growing number of negative incidents involving school students in recent years has raised serious public concern. These cases ranged from students falling from school buildings to attacks involving sharp weapons and bullying. A case of sudden death in a school toilet and other tragic incidents have also been reported in the country.

Based on statements from the relevant authorities, the media reported that many of these cases have been linked to mental health issues.

These developments have prompted questions about whether the existing cadre of school guidance and counselling teachers has sufficient capacity to address the increasingly complex psychological and emotional challenges faced by students, or whether more qualified mental health professionals are needed to provide specialised intervention.

Specialised expertise needed

According to counselling expert Dr Zuhda Husain of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Malaysia can no longer address today’s student issues using the same approaches that were effective two or three decades ago.

This is because 10 to 15 years ago, most of the issues affecting students were disciplinary in nature, such as truancy, smoking or theft.

“Today, however, we are seeing students struggling with psychological challenges, including severe depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, trauma resulting from cyberbullying that may not be outwardly visible, and many other mental health concerns,” she said.

A senior lecturer in the Counselling Programme at UMT’s Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Development, Zuhda said Malaysia has reached a critical stage that requires specialised expertise, such as licensed counsellors or psychologists, to be stationed in schools.

“This is where the Counsellors Act 1998 and the Malaysian Board of Counsellors should be fully utilised,” she told Bernama, adding that under this Act, clinical interventions and high-risk cases must be handled by licensed counsellors to safeguard students’ emotional well-being and, in some cases, their lives.

She said although school guidance and counselling teachers are also trained in psychology, their role and capacity remain limited, particularly when it comes to conducting risk assessments.

“It is important to understand that the school counselling system of the past is very different from what is needed today. Previously, counsellors primarily dealt with behavioral and disciplinary issues. Now, students are facing complex mental health challenges. This situation calls for focused clinical intervention rather than disciplinary advice alone,” she said, emphasising that the placement of licensed counsellors should complement, rather than replace, the role of existing guidance and counselling teachers.

Dual role

Zuhda said many school guidance and counselling teachers are currently required to teach academic subjects in addition to their counselling responsibilities, a situation that may undermine their ability to identify students experiencing mental health problems at an early stage.

“When we talk about depression and self-harming behaviour, early detection is often the line between life and tragedy. Excessive workloads reduce counsellors’ ability to identify the warning signs early.

“Because school counsellors are also burdened with additional responsibilities and administrative duties, they inevitably lose what I call their ‘psychological radar’. Early detection rarely happens inside the counselling room. Counsellors need to be present around the school, observing students’ behaviour over time. These warning signs cannot be identified through one or two brief encounters… they require continuous observation,” she explained.

This is particularly true, she said, for students who are “silent sufferers” and may conceal their emotional distress.

Zuhda believes that guidance and counselling teachers should be given the space to focus entirely on safeguarding students’ mental well-being, while teaching responsibilities should be assigned to other educators. She said the demands of classroom teaching may prevent counsellors from devoting sufficient attention to intervention efforts and could also increase the risk of emotional exhaustion among them.

“Numerous studies have shown that psychological support is less effective when practitioners are required to perform multiple roles simultaneously, a phenomenon known as role overload. The quality of care inevitably suffers.

“Having full-time professional counsellors in schools would enable student mental health support to be delivered in a more structured manner and in accordance with established professional procedures. More importantly, students would receive continuous and in-depth interventions that can help them fully,” she added.

She also noted that some students experiencing depression may be reluctant to confide in a counselling teacher who also teaches them in the classroom.

At present, in Malaysia, the counselling teacher-to-student ratio is 1:500. Although the government has set a target of one counsellor for every 250 students, that benchmark has yet to be achieved. 

Support system, reform

While acknowledging that placing licensed counsellors in every school may not be immediately feasible, Zuhda said the government should restructure the existing support system to better reflect today’s mental health needs.

She said the restructuring should require all guidance and counselling teachers to attain ‘Registered Counsellor’ status under the Malaysian Board of Counsellors. This is to ensure that their practice is governed by a professional code of ethics.

“The counselling teachers should also be required to attend continuous skill-building courses or modules that are relevant to issues affecting today’s younger generations,” she said.

To make counselling services more accessible to schoolchildren, especially those from Gen Z and Gen Alpha, schools could introduce e-counselling services or anonymous reporting platforms using QR codes placed around the school.

“Children these days are digital ‘natives’, who are often more comfortable communicating through text than face-to-face, particularly during the initial stages of seeking help,” she said, adding, however, that such platforms should only be used as an initial point of contact and are not suitable for crisis situations.

Zuhda also suggested that the counselling room in schools be rebranded and physically separated from the disciplinary office. She said the rebranding of the counselling room must ensure it is not viewed in the same light as the disciplinary room.

“The counselling room should be viewed as a student well-being hub, not a place for punishing them. Students are afraid to seek help in the counselling room for fear of being seen as problem-makers by their peers,” she said.

Zuhda also recommended that the government make Psychological First Aid (PFA) training compulsory for all teachers, including academic teachers and hostel wardens.

“This is important because they can help to recognise the early signs of depression and know how to refer students appropriately and without judgment,” she said.

Asked about the most suitable model for deploying professional counsellors in schools, Zuhda said a hybrid approach would be the most practical.

“For example, full-time counsellors should be assigned to high-risk schools and be present every day. Building rapport and behaviour modification require counsellors to have a consistent presence within the school,” she said.

She also said every district should establish a psychological intervention team that functions much like paramedics, and capable of being deployed immediately to schools facing serious crises, such as incidents involving self-harm, before the cases are referred to hospitals.

However, the responsibility for strengthening student mental health support should not rest solely with the government. Instead, it should involve coordinated collaboration among various agencies, including the Malaysian Board of Counsellors and the police, she added.

Strengthening psychological support system

Echoing similar views, organisational psychology consultant Dr Alizi Alias said Malaysia needs to strengthen its psychological support system in schools. This will include considering the deployment of professional counsellors more widely.

He said psychosocial issues often require more intensive, specialised and sustained intervention.

“In such circumstances, it is unrealistic to expect a single professional to shoulder the entire responsibility. In my opinion, a more appropriate approach is to develop a school psychological support ecosystem involving various professionals with their own respective competencies.

“The school guidance and counselling teachers should remain at the frontline, providing students with guidance and counselling services, and educating them on careers, as well as detecting (mental-health) issues early and coordinating referrals. Their role is indispensable and should continue to be strengthened.

“At the same time, professional counsellors can enhance these services by managing cases that require more intensive and ongoing counselling,” he said.

Alizi said his suggestion is not intended to replace guidance and counselling teachers but to complement their work as part of an integrated team.

He also suggested that the government expand opportunities for school counsellors to pursue a Master’s degree in Guidance and Counselling, enabling them to enhance their professional competencies and, where they meet the necessary requirements, qualify for registration as a registered counsellor.

Deploying specialists

Alizi also proposed that the government consider placing educational psychologists – known in the United States as school psychologists – at district education offices (PPD) to support clusters of schools through psychological assessments, consultations with teachers and parents, training, development of evidence-based intervention programmes and crisis management.

“For more complex cases involving suicide risk, severe trauma or mental disorders requiring clinical assessment and psychotherapy, clinical psychologists could be stationed at PPD or state education departments to serve as specialist referral experts,” he said.

Ideally, he added, every school should have access to an educational psychologist, whose expertise differs from that of a school guidance and counselling teacher and registered counsellor. The presence of an educational psychologist is to complement – not replace – the work of a guidance and counselling teacher, he stressed.

“Educational psychologists are trained to conduct psychological and psychoeducational assessments that help identify learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD, dyslexia and autism. They also identify special educational needs, provide consultations to teachers and parents and develop interventions based on scientific evidence.

“In addition to supporting individual students, they can help schools evaluate programme effectiveness, analyse student well-being data, and improve school policies and practices,” he said.

However, Alizi noted that Malaysia currently does not have enough educational psychologists to be assigned to every school. As an initial step, he suggested deploying them at the PPD, where they could provide services to multiple schools.

Psychological well-being

Agreeing that school guidance and counselling teachers should not be burdened with classroom teaching duties, Alizi said mental health challenges are fundamentally different from conventional disciplinary issues.

“When school guidance and counselling teachers are expected to perform two equally demanding roles, role conflict and role overload become inevitable, reducing the effectiveness of both responsibilities.

“Many issues can be resolved before they escalate if all students – not only those experiencing problems, but also high-achieving students – regularly engage with school counsellors,” he said, suggesting that schools establish collaborations with registered counsellors as an alternative to having a permanent professional counsellor in every school.

Believing that student mental health requires urgent attention, Alizi said schools must foster a culture of psychological well-being where counselling is no longer viewed as something shameful or reserved only for students with behavioural problems.

“Schools should embrace positive psychology and positive education approaches. The goal is not merely to respond to problems but also to cultivate resilience, well-being, emotional management skills and healthy social relationships among students.

“Schools should also have clear policies, standard operating procedures, screening systems, referral pathways, crisis management protocols and programme evaluation mechanisms.

“In other words, the objective is not simply to employ more professionals, but to build schools that genuinely promote and support the psychological well-being of every member of the school,” he said. — Bernama