Wellington, Nov 8 (IANS): The New Zealand government is funding counselling support for around 24,000 of the most vulnerable children and young people for them to "better manage issues such as bullying, loneliness, anxiety at school, or loss or grief", a Minister said here on Monday.

The government is sending counsellors to 141 primary, intermediate, area and small secondary schools throughout the country, Associate Minister of Education Jan Tinetti said in a statement.

This funding follows an additional NZ$31.8 million which was allocated to large secondary schools in January this year.

It equates to 90 additional counselling staff across the country and means 223,838 students have better access to a counsellor at school, Tinetti said.

This initiative invests NZ$44 millio over four years, as part of the NZ$200 million package announced last year to improve the wellbeing of learners and educators, she said.

"It is particularly important as we continue to deal with the impacts on our children and young people from Covid-19," she added.

"Good mental health and wellbeing is essential for student success," Tinetti said, adding for some children, a lack of wellbeing is getting in the way of their attendance, engagement, and achievement.

"We want all children and young people to understand it's okay at times not to feel fine, to learn more about their feelings and behaviours, and to build supportive relationships with their teachers, their classmates and their 'whanau' (communities)," she said.