The Union Ministry of Education (MoE) released the draft guidelines for schools to prevent suicide among students.
It includes ‘plan of action’ the setting up of wellness teams, orientation of teachers and family members, and immediate response to students exhibiting warning signs.
This guideline is titled as UMMEED (Understand, Motivate, Manage, Empathise, Empower, Develop).
These guidelines aim to serve as “directions to schools for enhancing sensitivity, understanding, and providing support in case of reported self-harm”.
A school wellness team (SWT) may be formed under the leadership of the school principal, where each member 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.