Neglected Needs: A Policy Gap Analysis and Perspectives of School-Based Mental Health Support in Pakistani Schools

Abstract

Education serves as the essential basis for national development which needs both intellectual development and emotional plus social health to be developed. Guidance and counselling (G&C) establish themselves as international necessities which help to provide complete education while decreasing student dropouts and increasing student coping abilities and protecting their mental wellbeing (UNESCO 2002 Gysbers Henderson 2012). The American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2019; 2022) International standards require a student-to-counselor ratio of 250 students per counselor while maintaining confidentiality and equity standards and defining professional roles. Pakistan currently lacks effective and consistent G&C services which function at all educational levels but especially affect elementary education. The university introduced counselling services for its students in 1983 according to Ibrahim and Almas yet the service never developed to support primary school students. National policies, including the NEP 2009 and the Single National Curriculum 2020, mention life skills but fail to provide operational frameworks, defined roles, or accountability mechanisms (Zahid et al., 2019). The National Education Policy (NEP) 2017–2025 gap analysis study examines chapter 21 which focuses on Guidance and Counselling and Character Development. The researchers used qualitative document analysis according to Bowen 2009 and Creswell and Poth 2018 to assess eight dimensions through the Policy Analysis Framework which included definition level specificity role clarity student to-counsellor ratio implementation mechanisms and accountability. The comparative analysis between UNESCO (2019) and WHO (2020) and ASCA models shows that Pakistan's policy lacks crucial elements. The research findings show that counsellor roles remain unspecified while teachers perform counselling duties without proper training and there is no oversight system or financial support for these activities. The study concludes that Pakistan needs an operational framework for G&C at elementary schools which should include staffing standards and training programs and methods for accountability and assessment of results. The educational system in Pakistan needs these gaps to be addressed because their resolution will help decrease student dropouts and enhance student psychosocial growth and bring Pakistani education standards up to global benchmarks.