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IIT-Delhi looking to restructure curriculum to keep suicides at bay

IIT-Delhi looking to restructure curriculum to keep suicides at bay

May 04, 2017
08:10 am

What's the story

Facing flak for the increasing number of suicide cases in the country, the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi has moved to renew its curriculum to help students cope with pressure and avoid suicides. The revised curriculum is expected to have lessened focus on theory and provide more hands-on experience. The curriculum will first be approved by the Governing Body before getting implemented.

Do you know?

Rising number of IIT suicides in India

The suicide count from 1981 to 2016 in IITs is indeed appalling. 83 suicides were committed till 2016, the maximum in IIT Kanpur (20) followed by IIT Madras (14). Amongst these 6 were Dalit students.

Reason behind suicides

Why suicides in premiere IITs on a rise?

There's is a growing debate as to why students from IITs succumb to pressure and end their lives. After gruelling years of preparations and admissions, the hope that struggle has ended is quickly dashed. Rigorous coursework and stiff competition makes many students start slacking and the backlogs begin piling. Moreover, support mechanisms in colleges are inadept in reaching out or reducing the pressure.

No set answer

Complexity of suicides: Where language divide and love becomes fatal

While most IIT suicides are given the simple explanation of academic stress but this may not be the case always. A lot of Dalit students and those hailing from South India commit suicide because their language or caste divide doesn't allow them to mingle with other students. Another case study revealed that many committed suicides over failed love affairs too.

War against suicides

IIT sets up task force to fight rising suicides

In 2013, the IITs had tried to curb student suicides by assigning a task force to study the suicides. The task force had provided a 4-level action plan to deal with the suicides. The steps included counseling of weak students, induction of new students etc. While the IIT council formally accepted the proposals, the four-level plan remained futile.

28 Apr 2017

IITs to have wellness centres to prevent suicides

In a meeting chaired by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, the IIT Council decided that IITs will now have wellness centers to cope with suicides. These centers will help the students to deal with stress and will provide a 'non-academic' induction program for freshers to adjust to the new environment. The council also approved introduction of supernumerary quota for women to increase representation.

Personal

IIT-Delhi Director talks about student-institution expectation mismatch

V Ramgopal Rao, IIT-D's director, said that an internal survey pointed towards a mismatch between "the expectations of the IIT and the students joining it." While students hope to enjoy a bit, the institutions have no scope for that.