Education Ministry to Draft Framework to Protect Students’ Mental and Emotional Wellbeing

He spoke on various topics, including gender equality, caste sensitivity, academic ease of pressure, a strong counseling system, and so on

on Mar 28, 2023

Education Ministry to Draft Framework to Protect Students’ Mental and Emotional Wellbeing

On Monday, the Central government announced a complete framework of operating rules that would include schools and higher education institutions to secure the mental and emotional well-being of students.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan declared during a high-level review meeting focused on student mental well-being and zero tolerance for discrimination in educational institutions nationwide.

"As per the minister's directives and to further safeguard students' mental and emotional wellbeing, the ministry is drafting a complete framework of operational norms, encompassing holistically from school to higher education institutions," a ministry statement stated here.

The framework would institutionalize methods to offer complete student protection from any danger or assault-physical, social, discriminatory, cultural, and linguistic; producing psychological suffering among students, leading to self-harming/self-destructive inclinations. According to the government in Parliament, 33 IIT students have committed suicide since 2018.

In addition to IITS, NITS and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMS) reported 61 suicides simultaneously. In the discussion, the minister instructed the top officials to implement an efficient grievance redressal mechanism with shared accountability. He also requested that they solicit opinions from all stakeholders via an internet forum.

"He spoke on various topics, including gender equality, caste sensitivity, academic ease of pressure, a strong counseling system, and so on," according to the statement. The ministry is "dedicated to ensuring the students' physical, psychological, and emotional well-being."

Academic pressure, peer pressure, and other factors all have the potential to impact students' mental health negatively.