Universities and colleges across the country will now have to establish student counselling centres with trained psychologists. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked varsities to mandatorily put in place a student counselling system as part of the guidelines on safety of students on and off campus in higher educational institutions.

The UGC’s directive comes at a time when two cases — the death of University of Hyderabad research scholar Rohith Vemula, and of three girl students of a private naturopathy and yoga college in Tamil Nadu — have gained national attention.

Letter

The UGC letter to vice-chancellors directs them to ensure that a system is in place to effectively address the problems and challenges faced by students.

“It should be a unique, interactive and target-oriented system involving students, teachers and parents to address common student concerns ranging from anxiety, stress, fear of change and failure, to homesickness and a slew of other academic worries. It should bridge formal as well as communicative gaps between the students and the institution at large,” the letter says, adding that teacher counsellors trained to act as guardians of batches of 25 students should be in touch with them through the year.

“Teacher counsellors can coordinate with wardens and exchange personal details of students, academic record and behaviour patterns for pre-emptive and corrective action,” the letter adds.