The fresh initiatives by some of the IITs include student-faculty informal dinners, roping in parents to interact with their wards at least twice a week through WhatsApp, open house meetings, face recognition attendance system to track students in mess and classrooms (to check if they isolate themselves) and having parents stay at the campus where the students face depression.
On the academic front, to ease pressure on students, most IITs are offering flexibility, like providing more than one exit option based on the credits scored.
IIT-Jodhpur has extended the window to complete the undergraduate programme to a maximum of eight years, the institute said in an emailed response to ET’s questions.
For the upcoming semester, the IIT-Delhi senate has approved a one-minor and one-major examination evaluation, replacing two minor and one major, said an official who did not want to be named.
The major issue stems from the difference between the way students are trained at the coaching centres and the way of learning at the IITs, said IIT-Hyderabad director BS Murty. “It is time to reintroduce subjective questions in JEE advanced to help them gel well with the type of learning at IITs,” he said.“The performance or competitive milieu is one of the significant factors. Coaching experiences are very different from the learning experiences provided in the IITs,” said an IIT-Guwahati official.IIT-Kharagpur offers an exit option for students who leave for various personal reasons prematurely from a UG programme after completing a substantial number of credits.
The battle for those aspiring to get an IIT tag begins in the early school days. Most students are under pressure to crack the exam and, once at IITs, to perform well. Amid this, IITs are working on strengthening non-academic measures as well.
“In addition to existing mechanisms to deal with stress and ensure mental well-being, IIT-Delhi is strengthening some mentorship and interactive verticals, especially to encourage interactions with students outside the classrooms, preferably at an individual level,” said an official at IIT-Delhi. The institute, among other initiatives, has launched informal dinners where students and faculty attend.
Once the physical classes resumed post pandemic, students found some peers having an edge in placements. “For instance, some learnt another programming language online which betters their chances in internship and placement opportunities. This could have created stress,” said V Kamakoti, director at IIT-Madras, which is in the process of introducing a face-recognition attendance system.
IIT-Roorkee has expanded the team of licensed clinical psychologists at its wellness centre to eight from three. It also has psychiatrists and speech therapists at its hospital, said Avlokita Agarwal, associate dean, student welfare.
“In cases of severe psychological distress, the administration provides special accommodations for students along with their families,” said Agarwal.
IIT-Roorkee is also hiring three staff psychiatric nurses in the institute hospital to handle psychiatric cases more effectively, said Agarwal. It has started conducting ice-breaker sessions like football matches.
