With the recent spate of suicides in the short history of the Eastern University, student counsellors who normally give academic advice to students have been given instructions by psychiatrists on how to provide basic psychological services.
The move comes as students and teachers at the Eastern University are trying to cope with the suicidal death of two students and one staff member in the past six weeks, all of them young women of 18 to 22.
“One person does it and others think it is a solution to their problems,” said C. Sritharan, the senior counsellor at the university. “People are shocked. The students care about others. No one wants to let others be alone now,” he said.
Last Friday, more than 38 student counsellors were given instructions by professional psychiatrists on how to deal with the situation.
It all began when, six weeks ago, a hostel worker took her own life because of personal problems, according to Mr. Sritharan. A month later, a student who was from the Wanni and had not heard from her parents for several weeks, also committed suicide. The school’s administration soon discovered that her parents were still alive and informed them of their daughter’s death. The third student who took her life was also from the Wanni and was worried about her father who was there. According to friends, however, personal problems also played a role.
There are some ten students from the Wanni at the Eastern University and 138 from Jaffna. One month ago, the university authorities announced that the Wanni students would be given financial assistance to continue their studies. “But their problems are just not financial,” Mr. Sritharan said. |
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