Under the new norms, every school affiliated with the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) must constitute a School Wellness Team (SWT), while schools with 100 or more students will be required to appoint at least one qualified counsellor, psychologist or social worker trained in child and adolescent mental health. Gandhinagar : The state govt on Sunday announced a comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention framework for all schools catering to classes IX to XII.
The statement said school principals will head the SWT, while a counsellor or designated teacher will serve as coordinator. The team will include teachers representing classes IX-X and XI-XII, a representative of the school management committee, two student peer leaders or Mano-Mitras, and a non-teaching staff member.
The framework draws on 15 binding guidelines and four directions issued by the Supreme Court on student mental health and suicide prevention, along with NCERT’s UMMEED (Understand, Motivate, Manage, Empathize, Empower and Develop) guidelines, the statement added. The framework also makes it mandatory for schools to appoint student peer supporters, known as ‘Mano-Mitras’, who will provide emotional support to classmates and help identify students needing professional intervention. The regulations also prohibit schools from segregating students within or outside classrooms based on academic performance, examination results, or marks. Public humiliation, comparison with peers or stigmatization over academic performance will be barred. In addition, mental health training has been made mandatory for all teaching and non-teaching staff.