The Education and Health Secretary said that mental health support in the subject increases the life of the school and will help open “much-needed courage.”

Bridget Phillipson and Wes Streeting wrote in the Telegraph that they will expand nearly one million children in England to school mental health support.

When asked about the meaning of “courage” in BBC Radio 4 Today’s show, Philipson said: “It’s about having perseverance, resilience, the ability to deal with the ups and downs of life, and the challenge of abandoning you.

“The young people today face many challenges, which are very different from some of the challenges I face, and today announced with the Minister of Health that more young people will be able to enter the school’s mental health support team.

“It’s about getting there early on the young people struggling to make sure they have access to trained, qualified professionals who can help them manage all of this.”

Support will include helping teachers determine which children need additional help, conduct group meetings to deal with anxiety and depression, and provide one-to-one support for those who need it but do not meet the NHS recommendation threshold.

The State Secretary believes that this support will help curb lower school attendance, which will ultimately lead to lower incomes later in life.

“By deploying NHS-led, evidence-based interventions in children’s growth, we not only pause the spiral of the crisis, but also develop much-needed perseverance in the next generation – for academic success in schools and life beyond life and all the ups and downs,” they wrote.

"Today's children are growing up in an increasingly digital 21st century, facing new and complex challenges in childhood that simply didn't exist when we were young. Facing your school days, it has a serious impact on the mental health of some children."

Ministers wrote that in any year, about 20% of young people experience some kind of mental health problems in any year, up from 14% in 2017.

They said the government published last week shows the direct, escalating impact of mental health on children’s school attendance. Children with poor attendance rates average less than 28 years of age, while attendance rates as students are close to perfect children.