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06/10/23 06:56 AM IST

Govt issues guidelines to prevent suicide among students

In News
  • The Union Ministry of Education (MoE) released the draft guidelines for schools to prevent suicide among students.
About UMEED
  • Titled UMMEED (Understand, Motivate, Manage, Empathise, Empower, Develop), the guidelines aim to serve as “directions to schools for enhancing sensitivity, understanding, and providing support in case of reported self-harm”.
  • A school wellness team (SWT) may be formed under the leadership of the school principal, where each member is oriented in handling crisis situations.
  • When a student displaying warning signs has been identified by any stakeholder, they need to be reported to the SWT, which takes immediate action,” the guidelines state.
  • The guidelines recommend an orientation a year for teachers and family members, to help build awareness around student suicides.
  • These orientations will be conducted by the schools for the capacity-building of various stakeholders.
Significance
  • Students go through many transitions during their school life which can cause extreme stress, for example, transition from home to school, from one school to another, school to college, losing a parent, sibling, friend, near and dear one, etc,”.
  • Along with this, children also experience changes as they progress through the developmental stages, leading to concerns such as those related to physical changes and appearance, peer pressure, career decisions, academic pressure, and many more.
  • The guidelines have been drafted at a time when a spate of suicides have been reported among school students preparing for competitive exams in Rajasthan’s Kota, India’s test prep hub.
  • There have been 25 cases of death by suicide among students in Kota so far in 2023.
  • The guidelines emphasize the formation of school wellness teams led by the principal, and having school counsellors, students, teachers, a representative of the school management committee, and a school supporting staff as members.
Source- Economic Times

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