India has the largest youngest population in the world under the age of 25 years. Yet, awareness about mental health issues have always taken a back seat in the country.
We have a lot of changes to make to address the challenges facing us and also have the opportunity to learn from other nations.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), suicides occur throughout the lifespan and is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds globally, after road accidents. On September 10, World Suicide Prevention Day was celebrated worldwide with this year’s theme of ‘Working Together to Prevent Suicide’.
The awareness within different age groups is needed for sure, but also the preventive measures from the start are required to help youngsters grow in a healthy environment. Also, as the awareness increases, there will be less taboo around mental health challenges.
The solution to preventive measure should start at the school level to help a child understand and seek assistance for overall development. A thriving example of this can be seen in schools in Finland.
The Finnish example
In a recent paper published in the International Journal, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health about ‘Mental health in Finnish schools: so close to perfection’ states that the provision of social and health care for students by the schools is increasing capacity to help children with mental health disorders.
The paper also states various steps taken by the authorities to constantly improve the system of providing assistance to children.
“In 2007 and 2008 two school shootings in Finland- which resulted in the deaths of multiple pupils and teachers-brought the importance of mental health provision into the spotlight. Following these tragedies, legislative changes were enacted to ensure that children and adolescents with social and mental health problems were recognised and offered professional assessment and support at school. The school doctor’s role changed to primarily screening work with low-threshold early service provision in a secondary capacity.
The new legislation enshrined in law in 2014 stated that all pupils, from pre-primary to school leavers, have the right to access student welfare services,” stated the paper.
The paper further adds that these services are provided by a health and welfare team embedded into every school, consisting of a school nurse and a school doctor (health-care team) and a social worker and a psychologist (welfare team).
“Each member of the team is responsible for a variable number of pupils and rotates around different schools depending on their size. The nurse is responsible for 600 students, the psychologist and social worker 800 students each and the doctor 2100 (in grades 10-12 [ages 16-19] the number of students increases to 3,000),” said the research paper.
The two halves of the teamwork together on an individual and community basis, with the health-care team leading on ensuring the health of individual pupils and the welfare team leading with preventative and education aspects. Pupils meet the school nurse every year and are offered a (recommended) appointment with the school doctor in the first, fifth, and eighth year of school (at ages 7, 11, and 15 years, respectively) and when the pupil turns 18.
“The 2014 legislation requires school staff to be attentive to students’ social, psychological, health and welfare issues. Teachers are encouraged-assuming they have the student’s permission- to take any concerns they might have regarding a specific student to either an individual or all members of the health and welfare team. The legislation regulates that any concerns about an individual student involve support and cooperation with the student’s family. There is a 7-day time limit for appointments to be made following a concern, dropping to 1 day if the student is deemed to be in crisis. Once a year, the school nurse meets every single child, and the doctor every child within specific educational years,” stated the paper.
Moreover, health education in Finland is introduced as a separate subject for pupils from grade 7. Lessons cover themes such as bullying, diet, preventing illnesses, good health and safety and mental health, which is given extended coverage to prevent the formation of stigma.
Where does India stand?
Indian schooling system has psychologists and counsellors but there are no policies and no effective implementation to address a plethora of mental health disorders.
Speaking to Sakal Times, Heramb Kulkarni, Director, Council for Creative Education (CCE), Finland said that the idea of seeking help by students is not seen as a taboo in Finland.
“Seeking help is perceived as important and necessary in the Finnish set-up. This is not yet the scenario in India. What India has to work on is to include holistic development like Finland. ‘The strategy to Prevent’ and ‘The strategy to Repair’. Finland has this approach which helps tackle the issue. India needs to include this in their curriculum,” said Kulkarni.
He further explained that the Indian education system focuses only on content. “They are different from the teaching environment. The focus of Indian curriculum is on content but not on skills. This has to change. There has to be a preventive approach,” Kulkarni said.
What we can learn from Finland is their committed consistency to prevent and repair mental health issues starting from schools. So that the individual has physical as well as mental well-being in his life ahead. What we can also learn is that strong will power and effective implementation of policies can help bring the change. If Finland can do all of this in just the last five years, why can’t we?
