Promoting Adolescent Mental Health through Guidance and Counselling : A Teacher Education Perspective from India

Abstract

Adolescent mental health has emerged as a critical concern in contemporary education, particularly in societies where young learners are increasingly exposed to academic pressure, emotional vulnerability, social comparison, digital influence, family expectations and uncertainty regarding future pathways. Schools are not merely institutions for academic instruction; they are also significant developmental spaces where early signs of emotional, behavioural and social distress may become visible. In India, educational policy and institutional discourse have increasingly acknowledged the need for psychosocial support, counselling services, life skills education and holistic student development. However, the availability of trained counsellors and structured mental health support systems remains uneven across educational settings, especially in rural, semi-urban and resource-constrained schools.

This paper examines the role of guidance and counselling in promoting adolescent students’ mental health from the perspective of teacher education in India. Adopting a conceptual-cum-analytical review approach, the paper draws upon global evidence, Indian policy documents and educational literature to argue that teacher education institutions must prepare prospective teachers with mental health literacy, counselling sensitivity, classroom-based observation skills, ethical awareness and referral readiness. The paper proposes the CARE-GC Model—Counselling Awareness, Assessment-oriented Observation, Responsive Support and Referral, Empowerment through Life Skills, and Guidance-Counselling Ecosystem—as a teacher education-oriented framework for strengthening adolescent mental health promotion in schools.

The model does not position teachers as clinical professionals. Rather, it conceptualises them as informed observers, supportive facilitators and responsible referral agents within a collaborative school mental health ecosystem. The paper concludes that integrating guidance and counselling readiness into teacher education can contribute to early identification, stigma reduction, timely support, life skills development and holistic adolescent development in Indian schools.