Parents, teachers, students and psychologists in Delhi-NCR have welcomed the Indian Education Ministry’s latest initiative to prevent self-harm by students particularly in the wake of a rise in suicide rates among engineering and medical aspirants in some parts of the country.
In the country’s coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan, for example, over 20 medical and engineering aspirants have ended their lives this year itself, succumbing to the pressure of cracking competitive exams or fearing failure.
What are the guidelines
The Ministry released the guidelines on Tuesday. Based on the tenet that “Every Child Matters”, the guidelines majorly lay emphasis on developing a strong bond between schools, parents, and community to identify vulnerable students and counsel them.
The Ministry has also urged schools to create a School Wellness Team (SWT) that will be entrusted with the job of identifying kids who are showing warning symptoms or who are at danger of self-harm, and responding right away to circumstances involving students at risk, and offering them the necessary help.
Additionally, the guidelines suggest doing things like locking up vacant classrooms, brightening dim hallways, and tending to gardens and overgrown grassy areas — all measures aimed at staving off suicidal thoughts in students.
“The SWT will also play an important role in implementation of school activities directed towards creating awareness about mental well-being, leading towards suicide prevention. However, SWT alone will not suffice in a school’s efforts towards prevention of suicide and would require the support of all stakeholders,” the guidelines state.
The reaction
“Better late than never. Finally, the guidelines have come, making it incumbent upon schools to adhere to the same,” says Dr Soma Seth, a child psychologist based in Gurgaon.
“If schools can teach students to let go of detrimental ideas like evaluating oneself against peers, seeing failure as permanent, and basing success only on academic achievement, then suicides of students at a latter stage can be prevented to a large extent,” she adds.
Parents also say that schools and teachers should play a proactive role in identifying vulnerable students and counselling them right from an early age.
“Student suicides can be eliminated in the country if schools and teachers do their job as suggested by the government because wards often behave differently at homes in front of their parents. Teachers should keep an eye on each and every student in their classes,” says Sunidhi, a parent of a Class IX student of DPS Delhi.
“We often find it difficult to communicate our difficulties to our parents because of their high expectations. It would be better if we get a forum in the school to vent out our difficulties and get possible solutions to overcome the same,” says a student of a leading private school in Gurgaon, who doesn’t wish to be named.
Teachers agree. “Being the academic supervisor of our school, I welcome the guidelines issued by the Education Ministry in preventing student suicides. We will soon form a committee of stakeholders in our school and try to take the first stride in this direction,” says Reshma Sachdev of Ours Pride School in Delhi-NCR.
