CISCE to hold national mental health conclave with 16 lakh school students
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) will launch a three-tier national initiative on student mental health. The programme will engage nearly 16 lakh students from Classes 6 to 12.
The initiative will focus on mental health, emotional well-being, resilience and supportive school environments.
The CISCE Student Mental Health and Well-Being Conclave 2026 will bring together more than 3,300 CISCE-affiliated schools and 32,000 teachers. The initiative will begin with school-level discussions before moving to regional conclaves and a national forum, with the aim of turning student experiences and concerns into recommendations for schools and policymakers.
The initiative will coincide with World Mental Health Day on October 10, 2026. It will culminate in the CISCE National Student Mental Health Conclave 2026, scheduled from November 20 to 22 at the CISCE Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad.
“Student well-being cannot be addressed through isolated interventions or occasional conversations. We need to create a culture in which students are heard, their experiences are understood, and their voices shape how schools think about mental health, resilience, and support. This Conclave is our effort to take that conversation from individual classrooms to a national platform,” said Dr Joseph Emmanuel, Chief Executive and Secretary, CISCE.THEMES FOR SCHOOL-LEVEL DISCUSSIONS
The first tier, School-Level Mental Health and Well-Being Dialogues, will be held from October 4 to 31 across CISCE-affiliated schools. Students of Classes 6 to 12 will participate in weekly structured classroom discussions on four themes.
These will include student stress and academic pressures; emotional well-being, digital life and positive relationships; drugs, substance abuse and healthy choices; and building resilience and help-seeking behaviour.
According to CISCE, the discussions will create a repository of student perspectives and experiences while encouraging schools to strengthen listening, empathy, peer support and appropriate pathways to help. CISCE conclave logo (Image: CISCE)
The second tier will comprise Regional Student Mental Health and Well-Being Conclaves, which will be held virtually across 18 regions from November 4 to 14. Selected student representatives and teacher mentors will participate in these discussions, where perspectives gathered at the school level will be examined collectively.
Student representatives and teacher mentors for the National Conclave will be identified through a fair and merit-based selection process.72 STUDENTS TO ATTEND NATIONAL CONCLAVE
The National Conclave in Hyderabad will bring together 72 students representing the 18 regions, along with 18 teacher mentors, mental health experts, policy experts, CISCE leadership and representatives of partnering agencies and the media.
“The real measure of this initiative will not be the number of conversations we conduct, but what those conversations enable us to understand and change. We want to listen systematically to our students and translate their lived experiences into practical recommendations, stronger school practices and a shared national framework for student well-being,” Dr Joseph Emmanuel said.
A key outcome of the National Conclave will be the CISCE Student Mental Health Charter, which will outline principles, rights, responsibilities and recommendations for emotionally safe and supportive schools, the Council says.
The initiative will also work towards developing a Student Well-being Index, creating a repository of exemplary practices and preparing a White Paper on Emerging Mental Health Concerns among Adolescents.
CISCE may subsequently institutionalise the Student Mental Health Conclave as a biennial initiative coinciding with World Mental Health Day.
The Council said the initiative is intended to shift the conversation from speaking about students’ mental health to listening to students themselves and using their experiences to shape healthier, more resilient and supportive schools.- EndsRead | NCERT clarifies Class 9 math syllabus: Topics not dropped, shifted across chaptersRead | IIT Delhi expands mental health, grievance support for students amid IIT-B row
