How schools can implement effective mental health support

In a country where education is often seen as the primary pathway to success, students grapple with intense academic pressure, career expectations, and societal demands. The mental health crisis among students in India demands urgent attention.

With student suicides rising by four per cent annually over the past two decades, the rate has doubled compared to overall suicides in the country, signaling an urgent need for intervention. This alarming trend underscores the urgent need for more mental health support in schools.

Addressing this crisis requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond academics, integrating counseling, emotional resilience training, and career guidance to help students manage both academic and personal challenges.

Schools play a crucial role in creating supportive environments where students can thrive emotionally as well as academically.

By prioritising mental health support, schools can contribute to a more balanced educational experience, one that values students’ well-being alongside their academic achievements. Here’s how schools can step up to support students’ well-being with practical, impactful measures that make a real difference.

1. Early Intervention: Starting career guidance from Class IX

Effective counseling helps students understand their strengths and weaknesses, explore various life options, and set realistic goals.

The Student Quest Report highlights that initiating career counseling from Class IX can reduce career-related stress and help students make informed choices about their futures.

Beginning career guidance and integrating mindfulness practices at this age equips students with a foundation of self-understanding that supports both academic engagement and mental health.

Notably, 55 per cent of students in the survey observed a rise in self-awareness as a result of counseling, helping them identify their strengths, weaknesses, interests, and abilities.

This self-understanding is crucial, as it encourages students to make academic and career decisions while mindfulness helps students manage stress, navigate difficult emotions, and improve their overall well-being.

2. Integrating AI and digital tools for personalised guidance

The conventional learning system lacks the concept of customised learning for every unique student. This is where Al in online education comes to the rescue.

With 85 per cent of students using AI tools like ChatGPT for career advice and 74 per cent of counselors also embracing AI, the potential of technology to support counseling services is clear.

AI tools can help students with tasks such as career exploration and university research, while allowing counselors to manage administrative tasks more efficiently, freeing them to focus on the emotional and personal needs of students.

Schools that integrate AI into their career counseling programs can better address the holistic development of students, meeting academic and mental health needs in a more balanced way.

3. Building a supportive school environment

The alarming rise in student suicides, reaching 13,044 in 2022, underscores the urgent need for a shift in educational practices.

Addressing student mental health requires a collaborative approach involving parents, teachers, and counselors.

Gatekeeper training is an essential step in this direction, equipping individuals like teachers, police officers, and school staff to identify and intervene with at-risk students. Through initiatives like the Averting Student Suicide Task Force’s gatekeeper training, educators and parents can learn to recognise early signs of distress, creating a supportive environment where seeking help is normalised and open dialogues on mental health are encouraged.

Initiatives like School Play — a programme that encourages students to write, direct, and act in plays that focus on mental health themes — break down stigmas around mental health, creating a space where students can openly discuss their challenges and share their experiences. Programmes like these foster a supportive atmosphere, enabling students to feel safe and heard.

4. Building capacity for suicide prevention

Incorporating mental health and career counseling into the educational framework ensures that students are not only academically prepared but also emotionally supported, creating an environment conducive to their overall growth and success.

The Ministry of Education’s UMMEED guidelines also deserve recognition for addressing student mental health and preventing self-harm, particularly in high-stress academic environments.

UMMEED highlights the importance of training all school stakeholders — teachers, staff, students, and parents — to recognise and respond to warning signs of suicide.

Capacity-building programmes provide stakeholders with the skills to handle sensitive conversations, identify at-risk behaviours, and offer support.

Schools should also maintain accessible resources, including helplines and counselor contact details, to ensure immediate support for students in crisis.

Schools can implement activities like meditation, art, and peer-led support groups, as suggested by UMMEED, to create a safe and supportive space where students feel valued and understood.

When students receive this level of support, they are more likely to feel valued, understood, and capable of handling life’s pressures.

It is crucial to shift from a reactive approach to a preventive one.

The SQR and UMMEED guidelines collectively emphasise the need for proactive, holistic strategies that address academic success and personal growth, ensuring students’ futures are not only successful but fulfilling.

Together, we can move from crisis to care, helping students navigate their educational and professional journeys with resilience and confidence.

Roadmap for schools

• By proactively addressing student mental health, we can empower the next generation to thrive both academically and personally.
• The mental health and well-being of students is a shared responsibility.
• By combining early career guidance, a dedicated wellness team, digital tools, a supportive school environment, and capacity-building for all stakeholders, schools can transform into places that nurture both the minds and hearts of students.