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The Educational Psychology Service (EPPS) of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth (MESY) is often confronted with crisis management issues in schools and the community in general.
Crisis refers to an event or series of events that affect or have the potential to affect the normal functioning of the community and cannot be dealt with through normal mechanisms. They refer to severely traumatic events (expected or unexpected) that endanger the physical or mental health of individuals.
Events referred to as crises can take various forms. They can be the result of natural disasters, accidents, illness, loss and bereavement, severe violence, terrorist attacks, etc.
The HPS has initiated a systematic effort to train its staff in school crisis management since 2009 through systematic staff trainings by distinguished trainers from the International School Psychology Association (ISPA). In an effort to maintain and enhance knowledge around this serious topic, the Agency continues to provide training to its officials. The new training activity (3/6/24-6/6/24 Golden Bay Hotel , Larnaca ) will be held by the National Association of School Psychologists of the United States (NASP - National Association of School Psychologists) and is considered one of the most up-to-date research activities in the field of training school psychologists in school crisis management and First Aid.
The PREPaRE (Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery) model, which will be used, is provided by the US Department of Education and the US Department of Homeland Security and describes issues related to prevention, protection, event mitigation , crisis response/management, and recovery from the traumatic event.
In conjunction with NASP, which holds the exclusive rights, the training in Cyprus is to be conducted by approved trainers and co-authors of the PREPaRE material Dr Melissa Reeves and Dr Stephen Brock.
Crisis issues in the school setting are of concern to the health professional community globally and we consider it particularly important that all educational psychologists in the Service receive gradual and in-depth training so that they can deal with serious events and also use their knowledge in daily practice, as they are often faced with traumatic events in the school setting.
When a disaster strikes, and if left unchecked, it creates chaos, insecurity, and a lack of stability throughout the school environment (students, staff, parents). In contrast, a crisis management plan can maintain balance, control the chaos that is created, and restore order, calm, and safety to the school and the community at large. Today schools nationwide are aware of crisis issues and have a specific crisis management guide (from the YEPS) available to be prepared before a crisis strikes.
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