Daily Editorial Analysis for 8th June 2021

School ranks

Why in News

• Union Education Ministry released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2019-20 for States and Union Territories of India.
• The Union Education Ministry has been attempting to get States into a competitive mode in upgrading their school education system by recognising progress with a Performance Grading Index (PGI) that assigns them a score.
• It can be argued that countries and State governments use school education as a transformative tool most effectively where the political imperative is strong.

Performance Grading Index (PGI)

• In the latest set of scores and grades for the pre­COVID­19 year, 2019­20, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have performed the best, although they still fall short of the 951­1,000 points slabs, the highest possible.
• It should be heartening to 33 States and Union Territories that their PGI scores have improved over the previous year, and in the case of Andaman and Nicobar, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh, by a noteworthy 20%.
• Several middling States continue to make marginal progress, some have improved merely by tweaking their data.
• Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh actually regressed, although the PGI scheme is now three years old.
• The score is derived using databases on 70 parameters such as access, equity, governance processes, infrastructure and facilities, and learning outcomes that are mostly self-reported by the States but vetted by the Centre, with National Achievement Survey data also being incorporated.
• On some parameters, such as uneven learning outcomes between students from deprived communities and others, bridging the gap earns a better score.
• The Centre, with its transparent scores and data for each parameter and sub­topic made available in the public domain, seeks to create a resource sharing system that low performing States can tap into.
• This initiative is laudable, but it can work only if governments and Opposition parties see value in strong and open school education, and work to strengthen access, equity and infrastructure by budgeting fees and funds for universalisation.
• It is such commitment that led Southeast Asia to carry out a renaissance in school education in the later decades of the last century, on the lines of Meiji­era Japan. India’s school system has to contend with not just patchy access and infrastructure, but major equity issues that have come to the fore during the pandemic.

Conclusion

• Clearly, the shadow of COVID­19 will persist over the education system for the foreseeable future, and further progress on all parameters will depend on bridging the gaps, particularly on digital tools, infrastructure and subsidies for access.
• The PGI scores show that the southern and western States are on firm ground to achieve this, while those in central India and parts of the east and Northeast are less resourced.
• A new deal for schools can transform them as the Right to Education law

Towards a stronger mental health strategy

Why in News

• Mental health issues are a major health challenges in the world today.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is a 10-25-year life expectancy reduction in patients with severe mental disorders.
• About 72% of member states had a standalone policy or plan for mental health in 2017.
• India introduced the National Mental Health Policy (NMHP) in 2014, and a rights-based Mental Healthcare Act in 2017, which replaced the Mental Healthcare Act of 1987.
• The NMHP, National Health Mission, National Adolescent Health Programme, and Ayushman Bharat have the necessary components to address the mental health issues of all sections.
• But more needs to be done in the context of COVID-19, which has exacerbated mental illnesses everywhere.

Mental health indicators

• Studies in The Lancet Public Health (2019) revealed that median mental health spending across the world was around 2% of the total government health expenditure in 2015.
• In low-income countries, it was around 0.5% of their health budget; for lower-middle-income countries, it was 1.9%; for upper-middle-income countries, 2.4%; and for high-income countries, 5.1%.
• Government expenditure on hospitals dealing with mental health issues as a percentage of total government expenditure on mental health is 1.3% in India; in developed countries, it ranges from 3% to 15%.
• According to the WHO, in India, the share of mental hospitals per 1,00,000 population is as low as 0.01 in line with developing countries.
• This may possibly be due to the lack of focussed attention given to mental health compared to other major diseases in India.
• India was ranked 114 with just 0.03 units per 1,00,000 population.
• India was at the 99th position in the distribution of mental health outpatient facilities (per 1,00,000 population), with 0.18 units per 100000 population.
• India was also at the 64th position in the distribution of mental health day treatment facilities (per 1,00,000 population).
• Residential mental health services, particularly community ones, are an important component for good quality mental health care.
• Research also shows that long-term patients with mental health issues are usually admitted to residential facilities.
• The people working in the mental health sector help us understand mental health issues better. Here, India was ranked 107 with 0.292 per 1,00,000 population.

Mental illnesses

• Mental illnesses include anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, mood disorders, substance use disorders, personality disorders and eating disorders.
• The majority of suicides in the world are related to psychiatric problems or to the illnesses listed above. Death by suicide is a complex phenomenon and not fully reported.
• Mental health may not be the primary concern in developing economies like India as there may be other communicable and non-communicable diseases which may be more prevalent.
• There are also challenges regarding funding, delivery of mental health packages, lack of trained staff, etc.
• Recent reports published in Lancet revealed that one in seven people in India had a mental disorder ranging from mild to severe in 2017.
• Mental disorders include depressive and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
• This situation was generally worse in the southern States compared to the northern States due to the nature of development, modernisation, urbanisation and other factors not understood yet.
• Depressive disorders were more prevalent among females than males which could be due to sexual abuse, gender discrimination, stress due to antenatal and postnatal issues and other reasons.

Additional measures

• To address mental health issues, India could:
• Reduce the treatment gap for mental disorders,
• Increase the number of personnel in the mental health sector,
• Work towards reducing discriminatory attitudes, and
• Devise an integrated approach for detecting, treating, and managing patient needs.
• More counselling facilities, especially in rural areas, with special support for women through the provision of women doctors are needed.
• More telemedicine, telephone-based helpline numbers, and mental health apps could help.
• Communities have an important role in this regard and so do community-based programmes.
• School-based programmes on mental health can improve the mental health of children.
• More fund allocation for treatment of mental health, especially to those States in need of funds, could do wonders.
• Explore various policy options including creating online mental health awareness.

Conclusion

• There needs to be a road map for mental health awareness.
• This should include the traditional media, government programmes, the education system, industry, and social media.
• Media awareness and government involvement is already happening in India but both can improve.
• It is high time that industry and private sector companies set up counselling facilities. The application of big data and crowd sourcing ideas may help us in informed decision-making.