Workshop ProposalTitle: Establishing Good Practices Model for Comprehensive School Mental Health Promotion: An Orientation Training Workshop

Good mental health is critical to children’s happiness and success in school life. It has been proven through research that students who receive social-emotional and mental health support achieve better academically. Health and well-being as a developmental goal is well articulated in National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The covid-19 pandemic has impacted the psychosocial wellbeing of children and adolescents across the country. The WHO (2016) report on mental health estimates nearly 20% of children and adolescents are suffering from disabling mental illnesses worldwide. Suicide rates and self-harm attempts of Indian adolescents are one of the highest in the world, accounting for 25% of deaths in boys and 50-75% of deaths in girls aged 10-19 years. In recent times of Covid-19, a large spectrum of mental health issues affecting young minds and families have been reported. Schools are most impactful agents of change when it concerns the mental health and well-being of the students as these are the critical periods of student’s lives. It is the need of the hour to design a program for adaptive and positive behavior that enabling children and adolescents to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Developing core life skills from the early years in school through the Life Skills Education Paradigm is such a program which helps in evolving their awareness and creates responsible and empowered citizens for the country. Here students as ‘Life Skills and Wellbeing Ambassadors’ can play a vital role in creating a participatory climate for behavioral change and adapt to strengthen their inclusive environment. ‘The Adolescent Peer Educators Leadership Program for enriching Life Skills, Holistic Health and Wellbeing of students’ by Expressions India, has been a model of implementation in many parts of the country. The workshop will provide an opportunity to learn the methodology and implementation of Life Skills Training program. Establishing a life skills initiative at national level requires an infrastructure capable of developing a life skills program of widespread relevance and acceptability as well as managing the implementation and evaluation of the program over time. The hands-on training workshop for School Mental Health in India shall go a long way in promoting positive climate of psychosocial well-being in the school and minimizing the impact of mental health conditions. Name of proposed session speakers: a) Dr. Rushi, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Clinical Psychology, ABVIMS, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi Contact number: 9910457770 Email: rushi_arshad@hotmail.com b) Dr. Jitendra Nagpal, Sr. Consultant Psychiatrist and Incharge, Institute of Mental Health and Life Skills Promotion, Moolchand Medcity, New Delhi, Program Director - Expressions India: The National Life Skills, Values Education & School Wellness Program. Contact number: 9810054860 Email: jnagpal10@gmail.com