Can Schools Avoid Exam Time Suicides?

Modern day living has been unburdening various pressures on children. This is apparent from the rising curve of suicides by children, particularly around exam and results time. The school is being increasingly seen as playing a role in preparing them to cope with related problems.

The author of this book, Malvika Kapoor, a clinical psychologist and currently Additional Professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology at NIMHANS, Bangalore, focusses on the importance of setting up programmes in schools to take care of childrens mental health. She discusses model programmes that can be set up in schools in the face of lack of adequate health personnel in the country. The programmes proposed by her are such that the presence of a psychologist or a trained counsellor would be rarely required. For this, the author targets school teachers, who can be trained as primary mental health caretakers.

It is not enough for schools to identify and refer children with mental health problems to counsellors or psychologists. Intervention has to be done by trained teachers themselves, says Ms Kapoor. This book provides an insight into the ways in which the administration can set up mental health programmes, especially in rural areas, using the existing infrastructure. It also provides useful tips to school teachers, counsellors and child psychologists. The author reiterates the fact that it is the school which is an ideal place to take care of the mental well being of children, because primarily it is the school that plays a crucial role in the all-round development of children.

Ms Kapoor feels that it would be more practical to incorporate the mental health programme into the existing health programme of schools, rather than view it as a separate entity. She gives interesting anecdotal descriptions of such programmes carried out in many schools. Cases studies of the author's work in different settings, evolution and evaluation of strategies to sensitise teachers to the mental health problems of children have also been described in great detail. The author's experience in many schools shows that regular teachers, when trained to intervene as counsellors, were as effective as regular mental health personnel.

The book contains case studies from schools that can help identify specific strategies which can be used to help children with emotional disorders, hyperkinetic conduct disorders and scholastic problems. Back and forth, Ms Kapoor reiterates that with proper training, the mental health care programme can be implemented effectively with the help of regular teachers.

An effort to initiate a mental health programme in rural areas by her met with moderate success. This has been described in a session-by-session account of a programme initiated in rural Karnataka. But the author cautions that once the teachers have undergone training to orient them towards the children's progress, evaluation of these programmes must be done from time to time. Attendance during the programme, follow up, disruption by participants and accommodation to facilitate the group process have been cited as indicators of the possible success or failure of the orientation or training programme.

The author takes us through the various steps for programme development and implementation which start from the establishment of a team and go on to the final step of co-ordination and modification. Various child-oriented policies formulated by the government have been described in detail. The author feels that what is being advocated in developed countries for mental health programmes is often impractical in countries like ours. But the recommendations listed in the WHO document Mental Health Programmes in Schools could be used as a framework and could be incorporated in our mental health programme.

The manual given in the appendices serves as a useful reference to teachers while relating to children with mental health problems. It lists a range of possible problems varying from bed-wetting to mental retardation. Practical tips on counselling have also been given and can serve as a guide to the trained teacher-counsellor. Without too many technical jargon, the book is a very useful tool for all teachers interested in the well being of children in their school.