HYDERABAD: Over 400 junior lecturers from government junior Colleges across Telangana are attending a two-day ‘Student Counsellors Training Programme’ to become ‘student counsellors’. The Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) organised the training programme at Sarojini Naidu Vanitha Maha Vidyalaya, Exhibition grounds, on Tuesday and Wednesday, following several incidents of suicides by Intermediate students that were reported in 2019.
“Teachers can be the best mentors. Then why hire counsellors?” asked Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, during her inaugural speech. “The Board of Intermediate education has chosen the most popular and friendly lecturers from 404 government junior colleges across the State to become student counsellors.”
To prevent suicidal tendencies, exam anxiety and stress among Intermediate students, the State government has decided to train lecturers with the help of professional psychologists and counsellors, she said. The two-day training, according to a psychologist, Dr C Veerender, is designed for lecturers. “We have prepared modules to identify teenage students, who are troubled during exams,” he said.