Rajasthan has rolled out a statewide mental health and well-being programme for primary school students, introducing the Khushishala initiative in around 1,500 government schools as part of an effort to strengthen children's emotional resilience, social-emotional learning, and life skills.
The programme, developed by the Rajasthan State Council of Educational Research and Training (RSCERT), is designed for students from Classes 1 to 5 and combines activity-based classroom learning with specialised teacher training to help educators identify and respond to children's emotional needs.
According to RSCERT officials, Rajasthan is the first state in India to introduce a structured mental health and well-being programme at the primary education level.
Shweta Fagediya, Director at RSCERT said, "Khushishala has made Rajasthan the first state in India to implement a mental health and well-being programme at the primary education level. The objective is to strengthen children's emotional resilience and social-emotional skills while equipping teachers to better understand and support students' emotional needs."
Teachers at the centre of the programme
Rather than introducing mental health as a standalone subject, the initiative equips teachers to integrate well-being into everyday classroom interactions.
Under the programme, teachers undergo a three-day in-person training module, followed by a 21-day audio-based learning course covering emotional awareness, stress recognition, relationship building, and student well-being. Teachers are also provided with specially designed handbooks and mobile-based learning resources to support classroom activities.
The programme goes beyond awareness sessions and focuses on helping teachers translate well-being concepts into age-appropriate classroom practices.
Education experts associated with the programme say teacher-led interventions can improve classroom participation, peer relationships, emotional regulation, and children's ability to cope with academic and personal challenges while enabling teachers to identify emotional distress at an early stage.
Pilot showed encouraging results
The statewide rollout follows a pilot conducted in 2024 across Sirohi and Banswara districts.
According to RSCERT, the pilot involved 120 teachers and recorded a 53% improvement in students' socio-emotional skills. Among girls, the improvement reached 69%.
"The findings also indicated stronger teacher-student relationships and greater emotional development among children," Fagediya said, adding that the programme also helped reduce academic stress while encouraging children to enjoy learning through interactive activities.
Following the pilot's success, RSCERT partnered with the Kshamtalaya Foundation to expand teacher training across the state.
In 2025, 165 teachers underwent intensive training through a blended learning model combining classroom sessions and online modules. In addition, 1,320 teachers from 33 District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) were trained to support the programme's implementation.
Expansion planned across Rajasthan
The initiative is now being expanded during the current academic session.
RSCERT plans to train 11,305 teachers at the panchayat level and extend the programme to 649 PM SHRI schools across Rajasthan.
"After the completion of these training programmes, more than 12,000 schools in Rajasthan will have at least one trained teacher capable of implementing Khushishala activities among primary school students," Fagediya said.
The initiative aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which places social-emotional learning, holistic development, and students' mental well-being alongside academic achievement. The policy encourages schools to create supportive learning environments that foster emotional resilience, communication skills, and overall well-being from the foundational years.
As conversations around student mental health gain greater prominence across India, Rajasthan's Khushishala programme represents one of the country's most ambitious attempts to embed emotional well-being into everyday primary school education through teacher-led interventions rather than standalone counselling sessions.