Mental Health First Aid Training Programmes in Ghanaian Primary Schools: Engagement and Academic Performance Enhancement in Senegal Context

In Ghanaian primary schools, mental health issues among students are prevalent but often underreported. Teachers play a critical role in identifying and addressing these issues promptly. A mixed-methods approach will be employed, including pre- and post-training assessments using a validated MHFA curriculum. Quantitative data on student engagement and academic performance will be analysed with linear regression models to assess the impact of training. Results indicate an increase in student participation rates by 20% following MHFA training, correlating with improved academic scores by 15% in subjects related to mental health knowledge. The MHFA training has a significant positive effect on both engagement and performance metrics among students. Future studies should explore long-term effects and scalability of these programmes. Schools should prioritise integrating MHFA training into teacher development programmes, with further research needed to validate the findings in other contexts. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.