Embed Mental Health Support in Nigerian Secondary Schools

An estimated 15–20% of Nigerian secondary school students meet clinical criteria for a mental health condition. School counsellors exist in theory but are absent from most schools in practice, and those that exist have no mental health training. Teachers identify students with behavioural or academic problems but have no pathway to provide mental health support. Most students who develop mental health conditions during secondary school go unsupported until crisis. Your challenge is to design a mental health support model that can be embedded in Nigerian secondary schools without requiring a trained mental health professional at every school. It must use a tiered model — teacher screening, peer support, and external specialist referral — that is practical within school resources, reduces the treatment gap for mild to moderate mental health conditions, and operates with a recurring cost below ₦3,000 per student per year. Submit a programme design document (max 12 pages) including: the three-tier model design, teacher training curriculum, peer support programme design, specialist referral pathway, screening tools validated for Nigerian adolescents, cost model, and a plan to deploy in 100 secondary schools in two states. Judging criteria: 35% clinical validity of the tiered model, 30% teacher and peer support design, 20% cost model, 15% school deployment plan.