A two-day Regional Capacity Building Workshop on Positive Mental Health, Resilience and Wellbeing concluded at the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) on Monday.
The workshop focused on translating a shared understanding of mental health and wellbeing policies into practical institutional action.
Organised under the Teacher Connect Programme of the Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Programme (MMTTP) of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India, the event brought together more than 100 participants from 28 higher education institutions across the North East and the Delhi region.
The initiative brought together faculty members, institutional leaders, hostel wardens, student welfare and hostel management officers, counsellors and student representatives.
A key objective of the workshop was to enable participants to return to their respective campuses with actionable insights that can support the development and strengthening of institutional systems for student wellbeing.
Speaking at the event, IIT-G director Prof. Devendra Jalihal highlighted the mental health crisis among youth, and underscored the fact that there is a need to understand causes in depth and not just reactively after a tragedy. He also remarked that there is a need to collectively find a way forward.
Devendra Kumar, director, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education spoke about the increased enrolment of students in tertiary education institutions, especially after 2011.
He said that, this reflected increased aspirations and competition among youth in tertiary education and also reiterated that participating institutes must deliberate on how to support each other and share their learnings.
Jitendra Nagpal, director in charge, Institute of Mental Health and Life Skills Promotion, New Delhi, and director, Expression India, spoke about the unparalleled diversity in India, and its demographic dividend.
He said the workshop aims to have all participants grow together and return as agents of change in their institutions.
The workshop highlighted that building a supportive campus environment requires coordinated efforts across different levels of an institution and discussed how institutional policies and support systems can be strengthened while remaining responsive to the needs of students.
Participants had the opportunity to understand how mental health and wellbeing initiatives can be approached at the institutional level. The workshop also provided a platform for participants to ask questions, clarify implementation-related concerns and explore how relevant practices could be adapted to their own campus contexts.
More than 20 resource persons, including mental health professionals, doctors, counsellors, academicians and institutional experts, contributed to the programme. Their expertise provided participants with perspectives on developing appropriate institutional approaches to positive mental health, student wellbeing, resilience and coping, social connectedness, and supportive campus ecosystems.
Regional capacity building workshop on mental health, resilience, well-being concludes at iit-guwahati
