There have been a string of suicides in the last few years at IIT Madras, which could be one of the reasons why IIT-M welcomed its freshers this year with a session on mental health counselling. Another fact to appreciate about this initiative is that it wasn't just organised for the students but for the parents too and focussed on the one fact that parents usually forget about when it comes to their children - giving them freedom.
"You must allow your wards to find what interests them and encourage them to immerse themselves in it. Give your children freedom to discover themselves," said Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT-M. The institute's objective is to help students as well as parents to adjust to the changes after entering the campus and to encourage the students to develop their overall personality and skills, rather than just academic knowledge.
MS Sivakumar, Dean, IIT-M advised parents to develop a friendship with their children, "Parents now have to realize that their role will gradually shift from being a parent to a friend as their ward goes through the phase of adolescence to adulthood.” Stressing on the fact that the institute will focus on getting students to excel in extra curricular activities and not just build academic competency.
The institute says that they hope through these programmes they help students think unconventionally and become courageous and confident individuals who are not risk-averse.The administration believes that these qualities are vital to take up entrepreneurships and become job generators instead of job seekers and develop a sense of social connect as well.
Prof Sivakumar said, “We are also encouraging the students to become team players by setting up projects that will require them to collaborate with several others. As many of the new students would have had little leisure in the last couple of years, as they would have spent a lot of time preparing for JEE, we also want them to develop passion in one activity outside their academics.”
Adding on about how the campus is becoming more student friendly, the authorities mentioned that the new facilities added for this year's batch include large reading halls exclusively for the First Year hostel students. A food court, capable of accommodating 600 students, is coming up shortly near the Hostel Zone. This is intended to facilitate students conduct team meetings, discuss ideas and collaborate on curricular and co-curricular activities, the administrators said.
A total of 863 students have been admitted to IIT Madras this year in the B.Tech. and B.Tech-M.Tech Dual Degrees programmes and 46 have been admitted to the five-year M.A. program.
