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Alberta’s K-12 school curriculum should contain comprehensive lessons on mental health every year, says the chair of Edmonton’s Catholic school board.

Chairwoman Marilyn Bergstra wants her board colleagues to nudge the provincial government to follow Britain’s lead and bring frank discussions and coping strategies for mental health into classrooms at all grades.

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“This is urgently overdue,” said Bergstra.

The school board will vote on a motion Tuesday to lobby the provincial government and Alberta School Boards Association to change the curriculum.

The Catholic school board has already adopted a plan to expand mental health training and services in the district during the next few years.

Given the burden of mental health problems on the health-care system and the economy, early prevention is key, Bergstra said.

Seventy per cent of mental health problems begin in childhood or the teen years, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health says. In 2012, 17 per cent of deaths of 10-to-14-year-olds were by suicide.