IMA Goa State Branch in affiliation with Directorate of Education, Government of Goa and Sangath NGO; organised a workshop themed ‘Paalak-Mitra, Fostering Parent:Child relations’ workshop at Menezes Braganza Hall, Panaji, on Saturday.
The workshop is a part of the year-long series of activities IMA Goa intends to undertake in sync with the “Be Kind to your Mind” theme for the year 2024.
The workshop, which was attended by 390 teachers and parents from the state, also witnessed eminent psychologists Urvita Bhatia, and Kedar Mirchandani from Sangath Goa, present a multi-faceted view on the topic.
Dr Medha Salkar of IMA Goa emphasised the importance of mental health and applauded the state government’s participation to hold workshops on topics in the betterment of the citizens.
Dr Shailesh Zingade, Director Education, Govt of Goa, in his inaugural speech congratulated Indian Medical Association Goa state branch and Sangath Goa for having come forward and focus on an important topic like stress management and parenting. He also expressed happiness to witness a large number of teachers and parents attending the workshop, and urged the teachers to be acceptable teachers and refrain towards corporal punishment.
Dr Zingade assured that the state government especially Education Department is committed towards ensuring all-round well-being of students, he asserted that the department shall take appropriate action to make sure such programmes are conducted on regular basis across all schools of the state.
Dr. Shekhar Salkar, President of IMA Bicholim, while speaking at the event, remined the members that more than the men, women play an integral role in parenting, while balancing work and family life; they give equal and undivided attention to the children. Dr Salkar stated that this workshop is the beginning of many such activities in the domain of mental health IMA plans to undertake in the year 2024. He also added that IMA is in talks with Education Department to initiate certificate-based course to parents and teachers with help of specialised institutions like Sangath.
The workshop was conducted under the expert guidance of Urvita Bhatia and Kedar Mirchandani, senior Psycologist from Sangath, an interactive session involving various intricacies on stress management, mental health and better parenting.
Dr Sandesh Chodankar, extended gratitude towards the Education Department for having supported the initiative of IMA Goa.
