The decision by the IIT Council to appoint at least one mental health counselor on every campus is a positive step towards addressing the growing concerns over student deaths by suicide in these premier engineering colleges. The emphasis on developing a robust mechanism of zero tolerance for discrimination in institutes is also a welcome move. The decision was taken in the over seven-hour-long meeting chaired by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during which the proposal to subsume the JEE Advanced in a common entrance for engineering colleges faced resistance from directors and chairpersons of many IITs.<\/p>\n
The need for a hike in tuition fees, which was also on the agenda, was discussed but no decision was arrived at. The IITs were directed to submit reports on the specific reasons behind students struggling with mental health issues, dropping out midway, and in some cases, resorting to extreme steps.<\/p>\n
The mental health and wellness of students were discussed at length, with Pradhan stressing the need to develop a \u201crobust mechanism of zero tolerance for discrimination in institutes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently, there were indications of a certain thing that should never have happened on IIT campuses. It\u2019s the responsibility of faculties, deans, and directors to ensure that there should not any kind of discrimination on any campus.<\/p>\n
Due to this scenario, every IIT was also directed to submit reports on the specific reasons behind students struggling with mental health issues, dropping out midway, and in some cases, resorting to extreme steps. \u201cIt was observed that the dropout rate was higher at the postgraduate level compared to undergraduate courses as many students often leave in search of jobs.<\/p>\n
In addition to this, the IITs are likely to hold a special meeting on the aspect of mental health wherein students, teachers, and parents will be invited.<\/p>\n
The members of the Council suggested increasing the student-teacher ratio to 1:10 compared to the existing ratio of 1:20. It will help the teachers to give better attention to every student and whatever issues they face can be discussed easily. Pradhan as having said that the IITs should provide all support systems for students and should have zero tolerance for all kinds of discrimination.<\/p>\n
Emphasis was also given to identifying students with their potential problems through both classroom attendance and hostel attendance.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Centre quoted Pradhan as having said that the IITs should provide all support systems for students and should have zero tolerance for all kinds of discrimination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The decision by the IIT Council to appoint at least one mental health counselor on every campus is a positive step towards addressing the growing concerns over student deaths by suicide in these premier engineering colleges. The emphasis on developing a robust mechanism of zero tolerance for discrimination in institutes is also a welcome move. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1283],"tags":[1523,3903],"class_list":["post-270206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aakash-engineering-coaching","tag-engineering-entrance-exam","tag-iit-campus"],"yoast_head":"\n