Lok Sabha Question No. 2489 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-08
Subject: Stress Among Students
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Kalyan Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2489 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.07.2019

## Stress Among Students

## 2489. SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the school children between the ages of 11-17 years are suffering from high stress and that lead to psychological problems;
- (b) if so, whether the Government has carried out any study or received any survey report on the issue;
- (c) if so, the details therein; and
- (d) the details of the action plan/ proposal to make the school and teaching process studentfriendly?

## A N S W E R

## MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a) to (c):  Yes, Sir. The National Mental Health Survey was carried out in 2015-16 over 12 States of India under the overall supervision of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and implementation done by National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru. In total 34802 adults and 1191 adolescents drawn from 12 states were interviewed. Prevalence of mental disorders in age group 13-17 years was found to be 7.3%  and  nearly  equal  in  both  genders.  Prevalence  of  mental  disorders  was  nearly  twice (13.5%) as much in urban metros as compared to rural (6.9%) areas.

(d): Education is a subject in the concurrent list  of  the  Constitution  and  majority  of  the schools  are  under  the  control  of  the  respective  State  Governments.    Under  the  Integrated scheme for School Education - Samagra Shiksha, effective from the year 2018-19, there is a provision for supporting States and UTs on interventions related to Guidance and Counselling in schools.  Funds are proposed to be provided to the States/UTs, in the current financial year 2019-20 in order to encourage teachers to function as the first level counsellors in schools. Also, State-specific projects are funded to address the issues of adolescent children.

Various steps have been taken by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to make the teaching process student friendly which are as under:-

-  Guidelines have been issued to transact curriculum in a student centric manner with promotion of active learning through focus on reflections and creating and constructing  knowledge.  Teachers  have  been  advised  to  follow  inclusive  principles and not label children as 'slow learners' or 'bright students', or 'problem children'.
-  CBSE  has introduced Experiential Learning from 2019-20 session onwards. Accordingly,  the  schools  plan  the  curricular  activities  in  such  a  way  which  enable students  to  connect  the  content  of  their  learning  areas  and  subjects  with  their  own lives and the world around them.
-  The  learning  outcomes  developed  by  NCERT  help  the  teachers  to  direct  their teaching-learning in the desired manner and make other stakeholders responsible and alert towards their role for ensuring quality education.
-  In order to promote life skills and value education, CBSE has integrated Health and Physical education with academics. Every school provides for one period per day for sports which leads to better stress management for children and also creates a better environment for learning.

In line with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, NCERT has developed textbooks that cover the aspects of stress, anxiety and other related problems in schools. The Psychology textbook of class XI addresses peace concerns in its chapter on 'Motivation and Emotions'.  The  concerns  for  health  and  well-being  have  been  taken  up  in  the  Psychology textbook of  class  XII   in  chapter 3 on  'Meeting  Life  Challenges',  which  tries  to  equip  the student with aspects and causes of stress and  the  development  of positive health. NCERT through its Adolescence Education Programme tries to inculcate life skills in the students who are at this crucial stage of their lives.

NCF, 2005  advocates facilitating healthy growth and development of students across all  school  stages  and  scope  for  guidance/counselling  at  each  of  these  school  stages  from elementary  through  secondary  and  higher  secondary  stages.  NCF  has  also  articulated  the concern to provide guidance and counselling in schools to deal with stress related problems and  to  guide  students,  parents  and  teachers  to  lessen  the  students'  stress. It  particularly emphasises the need to provide guidance and counselling by trained professionals to create the support system for meeting academic and social pressures.

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