Hyderabad: A petition has been filed in the State Human Rights Commission seeking a direction to the TS and AP government to appoint psychologists in junior and degree colleges to prevent student suicides.
The petition stated that a government order released in in year 2010 had made it mandatory for colleges to appoint psychologists to counsel students.
According to information provided in response to an RTI query, about 200 students commit suicide every year at the degree and intermediate level. Since 2000 nearly 4,000 students have taken their own lives and another 11,000 students have attempted to commit suicide. It is believed that the competitive nature of the exams increases the stress the students are under.
GO 19 of 2010 states that every institution should engage or seek the assistance of professional counsellors who can counsel new students and prepare them for the life ahead, not just with their academics but also with hostel life which is new to many.
Speaking to this newspaper, petitioner R. Bhaskar, a High Court advocate, said, “Students are detained in hostels in the name of coaching for competitive exams by junior college managements. Due to this there is an enormous amount of pressure and stress on the students. This provokes them to commit suicide.”
He said private and government colleges had not appointed psychologists. “If a student attempts suicide, the college management sends them to a private hospital and leaves them there.”
He says students must get counselling otherwise they will suffer from depression and lose confidence.
