175 - IITs launch war on student suicides

IITs launch war on student suicideshttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/iits-launch-war-on-student-suicides/1059043/0

ANUBHUTI VISHNOI: NEW DELHI, JAN 14 2013, 03:27 IST

New Delhi: Its decision to hike tuition fee by 80 per cent got the most attention but the meeting of the IIT Council held last week also addressed a grave issue: all IITs agreed to put in extra effort to check suicide and suicidal tendencies among their students.

The council accepted the report of the task force constituted to prevent suicides and promote wellness in the Centrally Funded Technical Institutions — such as IITs, NITs — and resolved to improve counselling and hand-holding of new students. They have every reason to: the report, accessed by The Indian Express, reveals that in such institutions, 18 students attempted and 12 committed suicide in the past two years. Seven of the 12 belonged to SC, ST or OBC.

The report notes that the reasons for the suicides were quite complex, not uni-dimensional; they ranged from relationship issues, personal problems, mental stress, family problems, and in one case, multiple factors such as poor results, personal issues and inability to cope with teaching methods.

Most suicides, the report adds, were not linked to a particular period such as examinations, results, thesis submission, soon after admission or at the time of placement.

It, however, notes that a new IIT student is particularly vulnerable to suicidal thoughts: most new entrants adjust to the pressures of IIT within the first 3 to 6 months but there is a fraction of students that gets stuck in a vicious loop of missing classes, poor performance, inability to share, loneliness, stress, depression and relationship issues. A very small percentage may also have a history of illness and may resort to self-harm when they experience the first setbacks in academic or personal relationships.

The report suggests a four-level action plan to check suicides at CFTIs. One, if a student attempts suicide, he should immediately be provided medical help and his confidentiality, privacy and dignity guarded.

Two, the student should be counselled daily for at least a week and watched, with his consent, by peers and volunteers. If necessary, he should be shifted out of his hostel room and put under the supervision of a parent or guardian. His close friends and peers who may be traumatised by the incident should also be counselled.

New students should be taken special care of; the first fortnight of the session should focus on building their social, communication and interpersonal skills to encourage self-esteem, emotion management, problem solving and time management skills besides warning against substance abuse.

Three, faculty should be alert to stress symptoms in students and conscious of the impact of their words and actions on their self-esteem. Confidential counselling should be made available to the faculty, staff and their dependents for any personal and professional conflicts.

Four, each IIT must clear rules on failure, termination, appeal, reinstatement and attendance of students as well as cut-off for grades. The task force also recommends a sophisticated counseling structure at every institute.

Lives cut short

5.7% or 7,696 of all suicides are by students

74% students who commit suicide are 15-29 years old

3% suicides are by graduates and post graduates

The reason

2,000 after failing exams

4,586 due to love affairs

Data: National Crime Records Bureau, 2011

173 - IIT-Gandhinagar introduces Masti Ki Pathshala to curb suicides

IIT-Gandhinagar introduces Masti Ki Pathshala to curb suicides

SATURDAY, 12 JANUARY 2013 17:24 DEEPAK KUMAR JHA | NEW DELHI

The IITs have woken up to the frequent cases of suicides within their campuses. Taking the lead in initiating innovative steps to check suicides, IIT-Gandhinagar has introduced an innovative initiative called  Masti Ki Pathshala. New entrants to the institute will not have to attend classes for the first five weeks and during this period the students will get time to play games, indulge in sporting activities, cinemas, outings and several other extracurricular activities where they will get an opportunity to interact with each other, seniors and institute staff.

According to IIT-Gandhinagar Director, Prof Sudhir K Jain, “Initial bonding  is more important than beginning studies during the first few weeks for new candidates. Social orientation of the students and acquainting them to the ground realities of society is important.”

“Our B-Tech students will go through a five-week Foundation Programme to enable them to cope better with the challenges that lie ahead in their years at IIT-Gandhinagar and in their professional life beyond this institute.

“They will enjoy themselves and at the same time the students, staff and faculty will bond together as one big family,” Jain said about his new initiative to arrest cases of suicide.

Other IIT’s too have expressed their interest in this initiative and may implement the Masti Ka Pathshala from the forthcoming academic session. However, the IITs are still grappling with the harsh reality that students have access to drugs and liquor in the campuses. This is one of the major cause for suicides in IITs and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTI).

Prof Sanjay Dhande, Director, IIT-Kanpur, described suicides as a “social scourge”.

In a presentation of a report on Prevention of Suicide and Promotion of Wellness in the CFTIs by the MHRD-constituted task force comprising all IIT Directors, it said that every institution should have a dedicated system to cater to the mental health and counseling needs of the students.

Astonishingly while the Centre has announced a major hike in the fee structure of IITs, the panel suggested that there should be mechanism of reducing the financial burden of students. It suggested that adequate financial support is made available according to the budgetary provisions of the institution and the Government.

The Directors discussed at length about the ‘intrusion’ of drugs and alcohol within the campus and into the hostel room. “The issue is as how these intoxicating agents reach the hostel rooms. Once these items are in the hands of the students’ then there are many associated problems. We need to think and ponder over how we check this (drugs and alcohol) menace within the campus,” said the presentation made before the HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju during the Council of IIT Meeting early this week.

The panel formed to look into reasons behind the spate of suicides had attributed drug addiction, failed love also as also the reason for growing number of suicides within various IIT campuses. The report also talks about the technology like mobile phones and internets which too have become a menace. 

The logic given by the panel was constant internet use left students too tired to concentrate on lessons. A case which came to point of discussion was that about a student who committed suicide at an IIT when one of his female classmate deleted the boy’s name from a social website.

172 - Government proposes task force to stop suicides among IITians

Government proposes task force to stop suicides among IITians Published: Sunday, Sep 11, 2011, 10:35 IST  Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI Concerned over rising cases of suicides among IIT students in recent years, the government has proposed setting up a task force to study the situation and suggest systemic measures to address the issue. "The task force would analyse the issue threadbare, study the present situation in IITs, review the support systems available, and suggest the measures which can be undertaken to address the situation," an HRD Ministry official said. The constitution of the task force, which would be discussed at the IIT council meeting here on Wednesday, would have representation from students, alumni, deans, parents and teachers. Some experts on the subject of suicide can also be considered for membership of such a task force, the official said, indicating it could be headed by an eminent person such as director of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences. The need for such a body was being increasingly felt as steps taken so far to address the problem including measures to de-stress students did not prove sufficient enough, the official said. Studies have suggested that most of the students took such extreme measure either due to stress-related disorder or had succumbed to depression. In recent years, cases of suicides have been reported from several of the IIT campuses - the latest one being from IIT Patna on September 1 where a 20-year-old girl from Andhra Pradesh allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the roof of her hostel as she was depressed with her performance in the elite institute.