Mental health struggles in the Indian education system
“I feel that schools understand the importance of a student’s mental health, my problem is with the way it is approached,” says Nupur Moudgill, psychologist, educator and Arts Based Therapy practitioner in training.
“Most of the time, the adults take full control of the students’ mental health narrative. They alone discuss the problem and what the solution might be,” she added.
“Even though the school tries to be more than just academics, the main goal and priority are their marks. We need to pay closer attention to what these ranks are doing to students and what happens when they compare themselves to one another based on their scores.
Plus, we are extremely privileged in our country to have access to different forms of activities, and these experiences matter. They are very important for our mental health, but sadly, they are not used that way–it’s usually just another platform to rank students on. We learn more through the sport than the game itself.
Additionally, no matter the age difference between students, they all mature at different times in their lives. Emotional maturity is key to running a mentally healthy school. The schools may pass off confusing and harmful displays of emotion as something the student could have learned from home, but even so, the school still becomes a place for them to practice such learned behaviors.
Overall, what is really missing is a teacher’s ability, due to lack of awareness and training, to be sensitive to a child’s mental health issues. Then again, is it really possible when there are an average of over 40 students per class ?”
But there are examples in our history that show better routes.
We know that Ancient India had The Gurukul System of education. Gurukuls were a form of a residential education system. The Gurukul was the ‘Acharya’ or teacher’s home where the students would come to live and learn. This system lay on the pillars of discipline and hard work. The gurus would teach the students and expect them to use their knowledge in practical life.
The Gurukul system was proven very valuable amongst students as it focused on quality and holistic education. Our modern day education school systems could be taking notes:
- Applied knowledge : Gurukuls offered education that prepared their students for all fields of life. Today, it can be done by combining academics and extracurricular activities along with mindful and spiritual awareness.
- Value based learning: Gurukusl offered value-based learning as per the uniqueness of the child. This offers healthy competition and reduces stress levels amongst children.
- Student-teacher relationships: A Gurukul system of education gave importance to developing a teacher-student relationship. That way the students could develop a level of trust with their educators.
“It should be noted that there is a sudden buzz amongst students where they do talk about mental health, but that’s because of its existence in social media and pop culture,” says Moudgill.
“They have very limited access to actual spaces that can provide help, and it needs to happen in schools,” she added. According to Moudgill, along with the internet, students tend to confide in their peers.
Moudgill’s knowledge and input led me to research groups that are actually attempting to emphasize the mental health narrative. Connecting NGO Trust caught my attention–they have a program called Peer Education Program (PEP) that trains students to notice and support their peers through distress. What it also does is help students identify and cope with distress in themselves, too. Schools could learn to import systems and programs like these to improve the awareness and wellbeing of their students.
It is important to emphasize that students need a safe and stress-free environment to cope with the modern world. We need to be focusing on a child’s mental health if we want them to truly grow.
Children are our future. They need to learn how to navigate through uncharted waters with ease so they can add value to our world and not drown trying.