How helpful are Kolkata's college counselling cells?

Back in 2016, the University Grants Commission issued a mandate saying that all universities should have a ‘student counselling system’ for redressal of problems and challenges faced by students. This system was supposed to be interactive and target-oriented, involving students, teachers and parents to address common student concerns ranging from anxiety, stress, fear of failure, homesickness to other academic worries.While some universities have stuck by the mandate, a few have failed to follow the instructions due to multiple reasons. CT visits a few colleges of the city to find out the current status of their counselling cell.
Authorities’ opinion
Many college authorities are of the opinion that they don’t need a separate counselling cell for students going through mental stress. The teachers (who are not formally trained in counselling) are the best ones to help them out, they said.
“We don’t have any specific guideline to set up such a cell. However, we try to address the problems of the students at a personal level. If a student is going through any mental stress, then the head of the department counsels them. There hasn’t been any instance when we felt the need to get help from a professional. The teachers can handle the situation,” said Ayan Bannerjee, Teachers’ Council Secretary of Maulana Azad College.
To this, Subhankar Tripathi, principal of Sarsuna College, added, “We have a counselling cell comprising various teachers. We don’t have a professional counsellor in the cell, but the teachers are efficient enough to handle the students.”
Obstructions
While some colleges failed to identify the need to have a counselling cell, others face multiple hurdles while setting up a cell.
An official of Dum Dum Motijheel College, who refused to be named, said, “We never felt the need to have such a cell. That is why we don’t have it. We have never spotted any student from our college who is suffering from depression or any other mental stress.”
But Tapan K Poddar, principal of Vivekananda College, said, “We had a counselling cell earlier as per the mandate of UGC. But now we don’t have one, as we don’t get any help from them. Frankly speaking, we seriously need one, as students coming from schools at times fail to take the pressure of college. But unfortunately, we don’t have any trained individual who will take care of the cell.”
Awareness among students
Colleges like Asutosh, Sarsuna and Vivekananda College for Women have a separate psychotherapy unit headed by teachers from the department of psychology and other teachers. But unfortunately, the students are not made aware of it.
“I have heard that our college has a psychotherapy unit, but have never seen anyone approaching them for counselling. Frankly, I got to know about it very recently,” said Priyanka Sardar, a first-year student of Asutosh College.
To this a student of Sarsuna College said, requesting anonymity, “I have no idea about any such cell in our college. Neither have I heard about it from seniors.”
Types of cases
In most colleges, the cases usually deal with academic pressure, relationship or family issues, and depression due to financial stress. However, there are some extreme cases as well — which require professional counselling. “One student of ours had severe behavioural issues. She was borderline schizophrenic. In her case, we used a combination of counselling and music therapy,” said the principal of Sarsuna College.
“There was a girl who had suicidal ideas after a breakup. Both the girl and the boy were from the same department. So they got to see each other even after the breakup. The boy got into a relationship with another girl from the same class, which was a big shock for her. After that, she went into severe depression. Her academic life was getting affected. But after counselling and several follow-up sessions, she is leading a normal life,” said Pooja Chatterjee, head of psychology and the psychotherapy cell of Asutosh College.
An ideal scenario
St Xavier’s University has set a good example to follow. They have two trained counsellors in the college along with other teachers in the counselling cell. They are available every day during college hours. Their personal numbers are displayed on the college notice board, so if any student feels the need, he/she can also call them. Moreover, in the second semester, every student has to go through a personality development course where they are trained how to handle stress. Experts are brought in to conduct these sessions.
“We were informed right at the beginning that this college provides counselling to every student. We were also given the details about the counsellor and were instructed to contact her whenever required. Many of my fellow students have met with her to discuss their problems. And they informed me that she dealt with them with utmost care. It is a good and necessary facility as it helps one to strengthen his or her mental state,” said Rohini Sinha, a student of sociology.
Fr Dominic Savio, principal of the college, added, “In a couple of months we will also have a separate counselling cell for parents. Often, parents fail to understand their ward, so it’s very important to have one.”
Counsellor speaks
‘Every educational institute should have a counselling cell with trained individuals. Like we have first-aid for our physical health, a counselling cell works as first-aid for mental health. We need to keep in mind that first-year students face a transition. When they come to college, they get exposed to multiple things and need
guidance. Counsellors make these
individuals capable of choosing what’s best for them. They never tell you what to do, rather, they guide you towards your best decision. People may argue that teachers and parents can play counsellor to the
students. But the fact is that these people always have some expectations from them. On the other hand, counsellors don’t expect anything from them. So, they are much more neutral’
— Aditi Bhaumik, counsellor
-- Pushpita Dey