Getting admission in any of the highly esteemed Indian Institutes of Technology is definitely a very tough task but the even tougher task is to handle the pressure of studies as the course progresses. Unfortunately, few students have chosen the path of committing suicide in the past and it has been a real concern for the management of these institutes.
Three students of IIT-Kharagpur have committed suicide this year in the period ranging from January to April and now the management of the institute has come up with a unique idea to combat the stress of the students.
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Every evening, the electricity supply of the college hostel is disrupted in an attempt to bring the students out of their rooms and make them interact with each other so that they can talk about the matters which are disturbing them.
Lakhs of students try to get admission into these IITs; however, only thousands are able to pass the exams and then these students have to compete with each other for the best jobs of the world.
Dean of student affairs of IIT-Kharagpur, Manish Bhattacharya, said,
“Students are meeting increasingly less. This naturally creates a lot of problems as they end up being alone. This small step will help them connect when they take a 10-minute coffee or tea break.”
The college has made up mind of installing coffee and tea machines in the premises by the beginning of the next academic year and for this purpose, a Japanese company has been appointed.
What students have felt about it can be understood by what a student named Anisha Sharma said,
“It was like an outreach programme where the administration wanted to speak to us… tell us what had happened and how it was important to be connected with fellow students. Many came out of compulsion but realised that it helped. Students interacted with each other, even discussing the suicides that had been troubling for many of us.”
It was on April 8 that the college witnessed a suicide last time when a fourth-year student hanged himself.
The college is focusing on not only students but also their parents and a programme for parents with psychiatric professionals has been started too. IIT Kharagpur’s director, PP Chakrabarti, explained the need of such a programme,
“The first thing that parents ask us when they come to drop their children to the institute is about placements and package. They need to stop this. It puts unnecessary pressure on the students. This is the reason we have decided to have an orientation programme with the parents too.”
One of the main reasons of suicide is depression and students are of the opinion that the college should have more counsellors. The mental health professionals have witnessed students suffering from depression, adjustment disorders and personality disorders.
The college is also planning to introduce courses on happiness and well-being. The officials say that they will make a microcredit elective on “the science of happiness well-being” into a 3-credit course. Prof P Patnaik, IIT-Kharagpur, said,
“We are evolving more courses so students will be able to go for micro-specialisation in science and happiness. The subjects that they take up include depression, grief, so these projects that they take up to engineer happiness are meaningful.”
IIT-Kharagpur’s Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness runs these courses.
The college will also work together with an agency to find out the strengths of the students rather than focusing on their weaknesses. The officials of the college are also trying to bring alumni for campaigns against depression where they can share their experiences which can help the students. The college spokesperson said,
“Some of the alumni have approached us and they will share their experiences by recording it and circulating it on the website and Facebook page of the institute. There is a stigma attached with depression and this will address that.”
We really hope that these measures work and students are able to get rid of anxiety and depression so that we don’t get to hear any more news about students committing suicide.
