THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Marking a remarkably positive trend in the higher education sector, as many as 8,116 students from 238 colleges in the state availed themselves of psychological counselling in the 2024-25 academic year.
The figures, which are based on the Jeevani mental health programme organised by the directorate of collegiate education in all government and select aided arts and science, teachers’ training, music, and law colleges. They also show a significant spike from the programme’s inception year of 2019-20, when 2,315 students from 66 colleges availed themselves of the service.
While the data suggests a positive attitude among college students towards mental health, experts point out that the figures for academic year 2025-26 may go up to 10,000 students, the highest in the project’s history. The proportion of female students attending the counselling programme has been higher, with the share increasing from 54.1% in 2019-20 to more than 70% in 2024-25.
Officials working with the project say that students are increasingly approaching them for a wide range of issues, from career choice, relationship anxiety, and personality assessment to even incidents of suicidal tendencies. Experts from the higher education and mental health sectors consider this a positive change.
With most of the college counsellors being youngsters, students feel free to share their concerns with them rather than expressing the same to their teachers. As these appointments are made by the government, inhibitions due to the potential involvement of college management are also eliminated.
Jeevani state coordinator Shiju Joseph says the proportion of students either remains the same or shows an increase as the project reaches more colleges.
“When the project was active in 238 colleges during 2024-25, around 3.96% of the total 2.41 lakh students in these institutions attended counselling sessions. With the wingspan of the project increasing to 242 colleges in 2025-26, we expect a turnout of up to 4% from among a total of 2.4 lakh students. Late adolescence and young adulthood are also phases when many psychological issues can set in. This can be averted through early diagnosis with interventions like these,” Shiju tells TNIE.
Collegiate education director K Sudhir said the programme has helped students feel that counselling can provide a solution to their problems.
“Rather than interpreting these figures as concerning, they can be taken as an indication that our students are more literate and aware of mental health issues and the solutions available to them, especially at a time when crime rates in the state seem to be increasing,” Sudhir says.
When students are facing increased academic stress, counselling sessions help them not to step into the vicious path of drug addiction or other social evils, points out Dr Arun B Nair, professor of psychiatry at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.
“However, the number of experienced psychology professionals we get for this scheme is relatively low, as they may prefer private consultations. Still, if we are able to generate such figures with psychology postgraduates, it reflects an improved attitude towards mental health issues,” Arun says.
He also stresses that measures should be undertaken to ensure that psychological support is extended to students of professional institutions and private universities as well.
