Two separate instances of death by suicide – of a woman student from Nepal at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Odisha and an undergraduate student at Ashoka University in Haryana — highlight once again the mental-health challenges across India’s higher education institutions. It also indicates the importance — and inadequacy — of these institutions in keeping pace with the changing needs and aspirations of a multi-ethnic student body. According to reports, the 20-year-old engineering student at KIIT had filed a harassment complaint against a male student on campus. The university had apparently offered counselling to both and let matters rest. This response, as it turns out, was not enough.
The diversity in Indian universities — the classroom today has representatives from different regions, economic divides, even nationalities — demands that institutions have in place support structures that can help students cope with the challenges of what is one of the most demanding phases of their young lives. As an increasingly diverse student body swells the ranks of both public and private universities, it is imperative that institutions too grow to meet their often complex needs. According to the KIIT website, the university accommodates around 40,000 students from across India and 2,000 international students. Around 40 per cent of the latter are from Nepal. And yet, for many outstation or international students, especially those from African nations or from the Subcontinent, the reality is a far cry from the idealised image of a “global campus”. Cultural shock, alienation and discrimination are common experiences. Facing protests after the girl’s death, for instance, KIIT directed students from Nepal to vacate the campus. The way staff members interacted with the protesting students, crude and intimidating, is a textbook example of how not to interact with students. and staff members. These indicate an urgent need for more intensive awareness and sensitivity training across the board.
As the share of students in higher education increases, fundamental to this change is the need to ensure an inclusive environment that makes students feel heard and valued. More so when in many cases students are young adults moving to campuses and cities far from home, without the reassuring networks of family and friends. That’s why a one-size-fits-all approach to support, whether academic, social, or related to mental health, is unlikely to work. Instead, a more nuanced and personalised engagement with campus life is imperative. Investigations into a spate of student suicides on the IIT-Madras campus between 2022 and 2023, for instance, led its administration to come up with unusual solutions, including a sports quota for athletes. In other centres, a supernumerary quota for women was introduced to tackle gender imbalance. The entire community stands to gain from a campus culture that is collaborative and empathetic, kinder and gentler to tomorrow’s talent.
