New Delhi: The national taskforce appointed by the Supreme Court to address mental health concerns of students and prevent suicides in higher educational institutions is seeking views of various stakeholders through online survey questionnaires, officials said on Friday.
The taskforce is also visiting various institutions of higher education across the country to gather views and suggestions, they said.
The taskforce launched its website on Friday on which all the surveys — for students, parents, faculty members, mental health service providers and general public are available.
“The institutional visits involve interactions with various stakeholders such as students, faculty members, administrators, and members of various committees tasked with grievance redressal.
The interactions take into consideration the intersectional identities of the students and involve meeting students from various disadvantaged sections of society,” Justice S Ravindra Bhat, a former Supreme Court judge who is heading the task force, said.
“In addition, students are invited to attend open fora to express their views to the taskforce members. The taskforce is also looking into infrastructure and services for preventing student distress and enhancing student wellbeing,” Bhat added.
Higher education secretary Vineet Joshi said the taskforce is also meeting various subject matter experts and stakeholders from various sections of society working for suicide prevention and student wellbeing to get in-depth insights into the various issues.
“This is in addition to the review of existing data and literature on the subject, including reports, publications and media reports. The taskforce is also seeking views of the stakeholders through online survey questionnaires. These will be filled by students in higher educational institutions, parents of such students, faculty members, and mental health service providers.
“Available in English and Hindi, these surveys seek responses from students who are enrolled in higher educational institutions in India. In addition, there are institutional surveys that seek information from entities that form the ecosystem of higher educational institutions in India.
“The surveys include questions on academic stressors, systemic discrimination, available support, nature of discrimination faced, grievance redressal mechanisms, etc.,” Joshi said.
The institutes are also being asked to share data on reported suicides, preventive measures taken and grievance redressals.
The Supreme Court in March issued directions concerning the prevention of student suicides in higher educational institutions, which underscored the urgent need for comprehensive measures to address mental health concerns among students.
The top court constituted a national task force under the chairmanship of Justice Bhat, along with other experts from various domains as members, to discuss and deliberate on issues related to mental health concerns among students, the prevention of suicides in educational institutions, and to recommend preventive measures.
