Centre issues guidelines for suicide prevention in schools

A school wellness team, a comprehensive suicide action plan, and detecting early warning signs of affected students are some of the steps that schools will need to follow as per draft guidelines released by the Union Ministry of Education.

The draft UMMEED (Understand, Motivate, Manage, Empathise, Empower, Develop) guidelines were released by the ministry on Tuesday. “A School Wellness Team (SWT) may be formed under the leadership of the School Principal, where each member of SWT 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 team will be led by the school principal, and a counselor will coordinate it; members will include a teacher, a representative of the school management, representatives of the school medical team and support staff, in addition to peer monitors.

Students who exhibit warning signs should be promptly helped, the guidelines state. “Immediate response to at-risk can be categorized into two levels. The first pertains to students who are displaying warning signs... The other addresses those students who are actively taking steps to harm themselves,” the draft states, with detailed guidelines for the course of action to be taken if a child attempts self-harm or is displaying signs of distress.

The School Wellness Team has been asked to take periodic assessments for “continuous reflections” on actions taken towards the prevention of suicide. “SWT and other stakeholders should meet at regular intervals to reflect on their experiences in implementing the guidelines and analyze the feedback received to identify areas that require improvement,” the rules state.

Schools have also been asked to work towards building the capacity of all stakeholders. “An important step in this direction is to enhance their knowledge and encourage peer support, organizing activities on a regular basis for relaxing and reducing stress, providing channels for expression, compiling resources to seek support, integrating mental well-being in school functioning, creating a safe environment in school and beyond including vigilance at railway tracks, river banks, bridges, cliffs, medical shops, etc,” the draft guidelines state.