Failure is not a dead-end: Experts

Two days after the suicide by a student at Sathyabhama, four Class 11 students took their lives in Vellore allegedly because a teacher scolded them.

Activists say there is a need for counselling among students – be it schools or colleges— which is also the need of the hour.

Friends and family of 18-yearold Moulika, a student at Sathyabhma, say they cannot believe that she took her life after she was caught cheating in an examination.

People close to her say that she was a happy girl and maybe the fear and shame were the factors that forced her to take such a drastic step.

A WhatsApp message circulated among the students says, “She got back to the hostel. She was alone in the room. No one was there to console her. No one will return to her until 11:30 pm until the exam completes (sic). She thought of her parents. She thought of her life. She thought of her respect for the other in the class (sic). She feared about what others will talk about her. She took this hard decision.”

Help at hand: The question being raised is if the outcome would have been different if there had been someone to talk to. Many schools and colleges in the city do not have a fully-fledged counselling programme for students. With the mounting pressure on students – both academic and peer – they often feel helpless.

There are some institutions that have understood the need of it. After a spate of incidents, IIT Madras now has come up with elaborate initiatives to help the students. “We have an initiative called MITR (meaning friend in Sanskrit and Hindi). It comprises of faculty and senior students who provide guidance to newcomers for orientation and information in helping them adapt to IIT-M. The students and faculty counsellors of MITR are available round the clock for any help that may be needed,” explains a representative from IIT.

Apart from this, they also have SAATHI, which is a SAC approved student body that endeavours to identify challenges faced by the student community, understand them, create awareness and to help transform the understanding into positive action. “Both SAATHI and MITR together serve as the guiding and counselling unit, providing emotional support to students. They are an institute body and function under a chief advisor, and faculty mentors, core team, coordinating team, student mentors and temporary volunteers.”

Apart from this, the institute has nominated one advisor to take care of the welfare of the foreign nationals and students from weaker sections.

Ethiraj College, likewise, has a three-tier system in place, to help the students. “First, we have the teachers, especially the class teachers, who interact with the students and try to understand the needs of every girl. Secondly, we have a mentor for every 20 students, encouraging them to discuss things beyond studies. Most importantly, we hire a student counsellor with whom the students have a three-week session in the beginning of the year, where she talks about the importance of mental health. The students are free to approach her any time if they want to discuss any issue. If at any point, the teacher or a mentor feels that a student needs professional attention, we consult the professional counsellor after talking to the parents,” says Nirmala, Prinicpal, Ethiraj College.

However, experts feel that not many schools and colleges pay much attention to the mental health of the students. “There should be proper awareness in educational institutions about mental health. People often relate counselling to mental illness. A student with minor to moderate adjustment issues is not mentally ill but needs guidance,” says B.Elayaraja, a counselling psychologist at the government’s 104 helpline.

He further adds, “A school or college need not have a full-time counsellor but someone who is regularly accessible. Institutions can also have staff who could be a volunteer helping students with the personal issues. There are certain red flags that indicate that a student needs help. First is regular absenteeism.

Some students get violent or aggressive with the teachers – this could be another. Instead of rebuking, they need to be guided. There are some who consume alcohol. A teacher, professor or assistant professor is the first to spot these changes. They must help the students or guide them towards a professional.” A few private schools do hire counsellors, but most government schools lack the facility. A higher secondary teacher from Kancheepuram area says, “As teachers, we undergo so much stress that we end up being harsh to the students sometimes. Some students come from broken homes and deal with dysfunctional families. They react to punishments and scolding differently.” He points that even if we ask a parent to take the child to a mental health specialist, they deem it as an insult. He also suggests that schools must train teachers too in handling and recognising sensitive students.

Apart from the 104-helpline number that could be availed of by the students, the government is also planning to launch a student helpline number 14417 soon, especially for school students. The helpline was to release on Friday. A senior School Education official says, “The helpline number will be released soon.

Not just to discuss about studies and career, but they can also talk about other issues that bother them in school. It could be the exam pressure or issues with a particular staff.”