‘Happy Schooling’ in 14 more Corporation schools

MADURAI

The ‘Happy Schooling’ programme had reduced the instances of violence among the students, said C. Ramasubramanian, founder, M.S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation, at a workshop on mental health for the heads of Corporation schools, here on Tuesday.

The ‘Happy Schooling’ programme, aimed at promoting the emotional well being among the students, is a joint initiative of Chellamuthu Trust, HCL Foundation and Madurai Corporation. The programme which was earlier implemented in 10 schools, is now extended to an additional 14 Corporation schools after found successful.

Through the programme, teachers are trained to identify and counsel students with behavioral and psychological problems. There are also peer supporting centres in schools where 10 students are identified to monitor and identify peers who need psychological help.

Dr. Ramasubramaniam says that the programme focuses on three stakeholders - students, teachers, and parents.

“We train the teachers to ensure that the students are confident and are resilient to face failures. The parents must also set realistic expectations and not evaluate the children solely through their academic performance,” he says.

Concepts like ‘wall journal,’ where the students can express their emotions through illustrations and paintings and ‘drop box,’ where students can drop their problems in a box, have helped in addressing behavioral problems among students, said S. Selvamani, project head of the programme.

“It is important to focus on girl students, as they are more prone to be affected by depression,” says Mr. Selvamani.

T.K. Lily Grace, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar, said that high crime rate among juveniles is a major area of concern in the city. “This programme helps in the prevention of crime among adolescents,” she said.

Speaking at the event, Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan stressed on the need to extend the programme in all Corporation schools. He also said that with available resources, the Corporation is trying to implement the projects proposed by various schools.