NEW DELHI: To safeguard the mental and emotional well-being of students, the Central government said on Monday a comprehensive framework of operational guidelines is being prepared that will cover schools and higher education institutions.
The announcement came after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a high-level review meeting focussing on the mental wellness of students and zero tolerance towards discrimination in educational institutions across the country.
“As per the directions of the minister and to further safeguard the mental and emotional wellbeing of the students, the ministry is preparing a comprehensive framework of operational guidelines, covering holistically from school to higher education institutions,” a ministry statement said here.
The framework will institutionalise mechanisms to ensure comprehensive protection of students from any threat or assault- physical, social, discriminatory, cultural, and linguistic; causing psychological distress leading to self-harming/self-destructive tendencies among students.
The ministry in Parliament recently said that 33 students from IITs have died by suicide since 2018. Apart from IITs, NITs and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) registered 61 suicide cases during the same period. In the meeting, the minister asked the senior officials to put in place an effective grievance redressal system with shared responsibility. He also asked them to invite suggestions from all the
stakeholders through an online medium.
“He touched upon various subjects such as gender equality, caste sensitivity, academic ease of pressure, robust system of counselling, etc.,” the statement said. The ministry said it is “committed to ensure the physical, psychological, and emotional well-being of the students.”
The issues that may affect the mental health of the students are varied and cover a wide spectrum ranging from academic pressure, peer pressure, intensely competitive educational environment, behavioural issues, performance issues, stress, career concerns, depression etc.
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