Objective: The aim of the present study is to assess the gender differences in academic performance of boys and girls in relation to mental health. Mental health is an integral and essential component of health. The WHO constitution states: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Academic performance according to the Cambridge University Reporter (2003) is frequently defined in terms of examination performance. Academic achievement refers to what the students have learned or what skills the students have learned and is usually measured through assessments like-standardized tests, performance assessments and portfolio assessments (Santrock, 2006).

Methodology: The sample size consisted of 500 students of school going children from CBSE and MP Board. The samples were selected by random sampling method. The tools used for assessing the variables are Socio-demographic, self made consent form and Mental Health Inventory - Jagdish S. and Dr. A.K. Srivastava (1983) Co-Curricular Activity Checklist- Prepared by the Researcher.

Result & Conclusion: There is impact of mental health on academic performance between high and low mental health groups of CBSE and MP Board. The obtained values of F-ratio are 22.88, 32.72 and 57.07 respectively for boys, girls and students. These obtained values are significant at 0.01 level. The boys, girls and students of CBSE with higher mental health have better academic performance than other groups with those of lower mental health of MP Board having lowest academic performance. Thus, from the above results it may be concluded that there is impact of Board of Affiliation on mental health on academic performance of boys, girls and students.