BENGALURU: Following an alarming rate of student suicides and incidents of harassment on campus, including a recent gang rape case in Puttur, Dakshina Kannada, Mangalore University has now made it mandatory for its 210 colleges to have at least one student counsellor on each campus. This comes as a relief to several parents and teachers, as cases of students developing an addiction to violent online games is also on the rise. The university recently issued a circular to all colleges in its jurisdiction regarding this.
“These counsellors, some of whom will be among faculty members, will be trained by a specialist to deal with students’ problems. To ensure a continuum, they will have to send reports to the university about the cases they have handled,” said the registrar of Mangalore University, A M Khan. Thus far, there were just about 12 colleges with counsellors, he added. The university will also hold workshops on sexual harassment for students.