Centre’s mental health survey shows school students face anxiety of exam, results

NEW DELHI: A majority of school students’ mental health declined in secondary school in India according to a survey released by the Government of India on Tuesday.

The survey showed that the majority of the students “commonly experienced happiness and expressed satisfaction” with school life which declined in higher classes due to anxiety caused by exams, studies and results. The latest National Crime Records Bureau report shows that over 13,000 students took their own lives in India last year.

The mental health survey was conducted by the Manodarpan cell along with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations of Education between January and March 2022 to explore the perception of students from Class 6 to 12.

The survey findings are based on the responses of 3.79 lakh students in 36 states and Union Territories. The survey was released along with a series of initiatives launched by the centre during Shikshak Parv. Shikshak Parv is being celebrated to felicitate the teachers and to implement National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Since the pandemic hit, this is the first survey conducted by the Centre to assess the mental health of students across India. Owing to drastic changes in the schooling system like prolonged school closure, online classes, changes in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams, postponement of exams and results directly affected lakhs of students. To provide psychosocial support to students and teachers during the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond, the education ministry had launched Manodarpan was launched in 2020. Later in 2021, a parliamentary panel also highlighted the need to assess the impact of the pandemic outbreak on school students.

The survey findings further showed that students have adopted yoga and meditation and writing journals as coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety.

In addition, a comprehensive handbook for early detection of mental health issues in school-going children was released. The handbook is intended to provide hands on training to teachers, counselors and other stakeholders.The handbook has been evolved with several deliberations taken up by a committee under the chairmanship of Jitendra Nagpal, a mental health and life skills expert.