AI tool, ‘campus moms' to curb IIT Kharagpur student deaths
The rising number of student deaths on campus has prompted IIT Kharagpur to launch a first-of-its-kind AI-powered emotional health monitoring tool that enables anonymous self check-ins and early alert systems.
Besides, the institute will also introduce an initiative titled 'campus mothers', under which wives of faculty members and staffers, along with mental health professionals, will offer the warmth of parental care and affection to holistically address the emotional crisis of students.
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The AI tool integrated in an app is part of the institute's holistic wellness and engagement framework — Support, Empathy, Transformation, and Upliftment (SETU), which will roll out from July 25 during the induction programme of a new undergraduate (UG) batch.
"The app will be secured so that vulnerable student data is not leaked. The system will allow wardens, faculty advisors, and trained peer mentors to respond in real-time with contextual sensitivity," director Suman Chakraborty said. The tool is being developed by in-house experts and a consultancy tech firm. SETU will also include professional care by psychologists, psychiatrists, and counsellors. It will also focus on peer empowerment, and community bonding to address the well-being of students.
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"It is the students who can be vigilant and alert us whenever they see some complex behavioural change among their hostel mates," added Chakraborty, while explaining the peer-empowered initiative. The institute has witnessed three suicide deaths in six months and nine deaths in the last five years. "With 20,000 students and 15 mental health experts at the counselling centre, it is physically not possible to cater to the needs of the students.
Therefore, we need technological intervention along with a human touch so that the quality of life of the students on campus becomes better," the director said.
The initiative is being rolled out as a pilot project at IIT Kharagpur and will serve as a national model for the other IITs.
TOI earlier reported about Sarth (Support, Acceptance, Resilience, Therapy, and Healing), which focused on upgrading the institute's counselling centre and offering one-on-one therapy and psychiatric consultations while maintaining confidentiality, hostel-level outreach programmes, 24/7 online counselling via Your Dost, among other measures.
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