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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, January 13: Almost 90 percent of the colleges affiliated to the Mumbai University have not appointed any counsellors despite a directive from Vice-Chancellor Snehlata Deshmukh. Following a spate of suicides attempts by college students the VC had directed that every college must have a counselling centre but most principals that Express Newsline spoke to say that though they would be most happy to implement the suggestion, they require government grant for it.
University Registrar M S Kambli says that is cavilling: “It’s true that most of the colleges have cited lack of funds for not having a proper counselling centres, but then the rate at which suicides are escalating in the campus one has to overcome these administrative hurdles immediately to save further loss of young lives.”
At present, except for St Xavier’s and Wilson, which were the first to have counselling centres in the early 1950s, and a few others like Jai Hind, Bhavan’s, Ruia, Poddar, Sophia, Kandivli College, St Andrews and the psychology department of Mumbai University at Kalina, none of the other colleges have provisions for a counsellor. Also, the `high-stress’ zones like professional engineering and medical colleges have failed to provide for counsellors in spite of directives from AICTE.
One of the professors of VJTI, which has had its share of suicides in the past, said, “We should definitely have a counsellor in our institute as many students are unable to cope with the tough syllabus and they try and take the easy way out by committing suicide.” The pressure, says the professor, “is mainly because parents want their wards to be engineers and doctors, even though the students may be better equipped for another career.” Not everyone agrees with the mental stress theory. Principal P M Sule of D G Ruparel college, which religiously churns out HSC toppers every year, said: “We don’t really need a counsellor as we have many co-curricular activities for the first year degree students, dealing with career counselling. We therefore do not face this problem.”
It’s a school of thought that has few takers today after the spate of attempted suicides. Professor Kamal Jadhav of St Xavier’s College cites the case of Akshay Dixit, an SYBSc student who committed suicide seven months ago.
Akshay did not pass and ended his life by jumping off a building in Navy Nagar. In his suicide note, recalls Xavier’s principal Fr Joe Dias, Akshay, throughout a brilliant student, blamed the educational system that did not provide for the growth of unconventionally talented people like him.
His incriminating note was passed on to the VC after which she passed the directive for the setting up of counselling centres in college. That remains unfulfilled. But on January 20 the university is holding a seminar on student counselling. And bureaucratic procedures notwithstanding there is all round determination to enforce the VC’s directive.
As Principal D B Kadam of Bhavan’s college put it: “Counselling, especially emotional counselling is a human technology which has become a must for all the students, for you never know when, where and why, another youngster with a problem may take the final bow to end his problems.”
College counsellors have identified some of the most common problems faced by today’s youth. They are as follows:
