New Delhi: The University Grants Commission’s (UGC’s) latest guidelines have put focus on the physical and mental well-being of students, suggesting setting up of Student Service Centres (SSC) in higher educational institutions which would provide such support to those from rural backgrounds, divergent cultures and with special needs.
The UGC’s ‘Guidelines for Promotion of Physical Fitness, Sports, Students’ Health, Welfare, Psychological and Emotional Well-Being at Higher Educational Institutions of India’ were released on 12 April.
According to the UGC, campuses will have to maintain data on activities at SSCs, and bodies such as the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) may consider assigning points/grades for SSCs in colleges and universities.
The SSCs will be managed by a director/dean-level individual equivalent to a professor’s rank from a discipline such as psychology, physical education and sports, psychiatry, social work, or sociology. Higher educational institutions (HEIs) have further been advised to sign agreements with bodies such as AIIMS and NIMHANS to gain access to advanced medicinal mental help.
SSCs will also interact with other bodies such as the SC/ST cell, gender equity centre, and student welfare committees in educational institutes, the guidelines state.
In addition, the UGC has suggested that courses on mental health may be included in the curriculum, with some credits to be assigned for their successful completion.
The guidelines come at a time when student suicides in HEIs have made headlines.
According to data presented in Parliament last month, as many as 33 students at various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country have died by suicide since 2018.
At IIT Madras, the third such case was reported earlier this month.
IITs accounted for the maximum number of student suicides among the three institutes for which data was presented, the other two being the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), which reported 24 such deaths in this period, and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), with four such deaths.
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‘Gym, yoga centre’ for students
Along with the mental well-being of students, the UGC has also advised HEIs to focus on the physical well-being of students.
To ensure that students are physically active, the guidelines advise: “HEIs need to create the necessary outdoor and indoor sports facilities and infrastructure on campus. There should be a state-of-the-art gymnasium and yoga centre. HEIs are to ensure the proper functioning of all such facilities available on campus.”
They further recommend that the National Service Scheme (NSS), the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and other similar avenues be used to engage students meaningfully.
Self-defence classes for female students have been suggested, with HEIs also told to include local and regional sports and forms of exercise in addition to yoga to increase student fitness levels.
According to the guidelines, campuses must ensure that student participation is maintained in academic and co-curricular activities besides having linkages with society and ecology through field training, job placement activities, educational tours, and summer internships.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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