ગાંધીનગર, ૧ નવેમ્બર, ૨૦૨૬: ગુજરાત સરકારે ધોરણ ૯ થી ૧૨ની તમામ શાળાઓમાં વિદ્યાર્થીઓના માનસિક સ્વાસ્થ્ય અને આત્મહત્યા નિવારણ માટેની વ્યવસ્થા ફરજિયાત બનાવી છે. દરેક શાળામાં 'સ્કૂલ વેલનેસ ટીમ' અને વિદ્યાર્થી 'મનો-મિત્ર' રહેશે, ૧૦૦થી વધુ વિદ્યાર્થીઓ ધરાવતી શાળાએ લાયક કાઉન્સેલર રાખવો પડશે, અને ગુણના આધારે વિદ્યાર્થીઓના વર્ગ પાડવા કે જાહેરમાં સરખામણી કરવા પર પ્રતિબંધ રહેશે.

Gujarat's Education Department has made student mental-health and suicide-prevention arrangements compulsory in every secondary and higher-secondary school affiliated to the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB). The change, announced on Sunday, November 1, 2026, adds a new Regulation 16(A) and a detailed Appendix 8 to the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Regulations, 1974. It covers classes 9 and 10 (secondary) and 11 and 12 (higher secondary).

The state says the decision follows a Supreme Court judgment that laid down 15 binding guidelines and four directions on student mental health for all educational institutions, which the Union Ministry of Law and Justice asked states to implement. NCERT's UMMEED guidelines (Understand, Motivate, Manage, Empathise, Empower, Develop) have been adopted as the reference framework. The announcement came from the Chief Minister's Office, with Education Minister Dr. Pradyumanbhai Vaja and Minister of State for Education Rivaba Jadeja.

What every school now has to do

  • School Wellness Team (SWT): formed at the start of every academic year and reviewed annually. The principal leads it, with the school counsellor or a designated teacher as coordinator. Members are one teacher each from the secondary and higher-secondary sections, a School Management Committee representative, one student peer leader from each section and one non-teaching staff member.
  • "Mano-Mitra" peer supporters: students who offer first-level emotional support to classmates and steer those who need it towards help.
  • Counsellors: a school with 100 or more students must appoint at least one qualified counsellor, psychologist or social worker trained in child and adolescent mental health. Smaller schools must set up formal referral links with outside professionals, the nearest community or primary health centre, the district mental-health programme and the national Tele-MANAS service.
  • Extra support at pressure points: dedicated mentors or counsellors for small groups of students around board exams, results, and the move from class 8 to 9 and from class 10 to 11.
  • Staff training: all teaching and non-teaching staff must be trained by certified mental-health professionals at least twice a year, covering psychological first aid, warning signs and self-harm response.
  • Helplines on display: the government child helpline number and the SWT's contact number must be shown on the school website, notice boards, classrooms, hostels and the counselling room, alongside a confidential suggestion box.

No sorting, shaming or comparing by marks

The most visible change for families may be in the classroom. Schools may no longer segregate students, inside or outside class, on the basis of academic performance, exam results or marks, and no student may be publicly humiliated, compared or labelled over their grades. Any practice that breeds stress, fear or a sense of inferiority is ruled out. Schools must also run regular co-curricular activities, from yoga, music and sport to NSS, NCC and Scouts and Guides, and offer career guidance on academic, vocational and entrepreneurial routes to ease pressure on students.

Crisis response and accountability

Any warning sign of self-harm or suicidal thinking must be taken seriously and acted on at once, and a student who has attempted self-harm must never be left alone. Students' mental-health and counselling records stay confidential. After a suicide, schools must provide "postvention" support to students, staff and the family; only the principal or an authorised officer may speak to the media, without revealing the method, location, photographs or personal details.

Schools also need a confidential complaints system for sexual harassment, ragging, bullying, cyberbullying and discrimination of any kind. Where a school knew, or should have known, of a risk and failed to act, and that failure contributed to serious harm or a suicide, it will be treated as institutional fault, opening the school and responsible officials to disciplinary or legal action. A district-level monitoring committee chaired by the Collector will oversee compliance.

If you need help

Tele-MANAS, the free national mental-health helpline, is available round the clock on 14416 or 1-800-891-4416, in Gujarati and other languages.

Source

  • Gujarat Information Bureau, Chief Minister's Office, Gujarat: press release dated 1 November 2026, “મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલનો વિદ્યાર્થી હિતલક્ષી સંવેદનશીલ અભિગમ” (release ID 55521). Available on GIB's Department Releases page.