HYDERABAD: Despite the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) mandate for junior colleges to hire psychological counsellors, several private and corporate junior colleges in the state have failed to do so.
BIE officials said they will stop granting affiliations to colleges that do not have student counsellors from the academic year 2020-21.
The BIE passed the mandate last year after 23 students committed suicide following the Intermediate exam result scam.
Initially, 404 government junior colleges across the State had hired counsellors. However, thousands of private and corporate colleges are still operating without counsellors.
Speaking to Express, Educational Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said, “There are 2,500 corporate, private and aided junior colleges across the State. Most of the suicide attempts are reported from corporate and private junior colleges.”
Experts said that psychological counsellors at educational institutes are a must today. “They will help students deal with suicidal tendencies, mitigate exam anxiety, and manage stress and depression ,” said Dr Venkat Subbaiah, a city-based clinical psychologist.
According to sources from BIE, very few private and corporate colleges have hired counsellors. However, these counsellors, who were recently hired, are resigning soon after joining. “I was appointed as a student counsellor but the college management soon started directing me to do clerical chores. My work is more of a clerk than a counsellor,” said a student counsellor at a corporate junior college in the city