School Mental Health Programme (SMHP)

Developing scalable, sustainable, and school-based mental health support systems for adolescents in India

Overview

The School Mental Health Programme (SMHP) is a Wellcome Trust-funded planning grant initiative aimed at developing the next generation of evidence-based, school-based mental health support for adolescents. Building on Sangath’s earlier trial in Delhi government schools (2017–18), PRIDE project, which evaluated a low-cost, brief problem-solving intervention for common adolescent mental health concerns, the SMHP focuses on co-designing sustainable implementation strategies for scale-up.

Over the course of this planning phase, the project works closely with schools, educators, parents, and government stakeholders across Delhi and Goa. The central goal is to assess school readiness and establish implementation frameworks that integrate seamlessly into existing school infrastructure.

Key objectives

Assess school readiness: Evaluate current school-based mental health infrastructure, opportunities, and barriers across government and aided secondary schools in Delhi and Goa.
Co-design implementation pathways: Work collaboratively with students, teachers, parents, and school counsellors to adapt intervention delivery models, awareness materials, and referral systems.
Integrate with existing systems: Align programme delivery with government education priorities, optimising the role of existing school counsellors or school staff for long-term sustainability.
Lay the groundwork for scale-up: Develop actionable implementation strategies and governance frameworks for a prospective 5–7 year multi-school implementation trial.

Rationale

Mental health problems commonly begin during adolescence, with anxiety and depression among the leading causes of disability in young people. Many students experience significant emotional distress, yet relatively few receive timely, evidence-based support.

253M adolescents aged 10–19 (UNICEF, 2026)
1 in 7 adolescents aged 10–19 lives with a mental disorder (WHO, 2025)
Suicide top cause of mortality among adolescents (NIMHANS, 2016)

Schools provide an important opportunity to identify and support students experiencing emotional difficulties. The National Education Policy (2020) recognises the importance of holistic student development, life skills, counselling services and supportive school environments, highlighting the need for practical approaches that can be integrated into routine school systems.

Sangath has spent over a decade developing and testing school-based mental health interventions that can be delivered effectively and at low cost. The next critical step is to understand how such evidence-informed approaches can be implemented and sustained at scale within existing education systems.