New Delhi: The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNVs) have recruited 1,176 counsellors after a large number of suicides in the residential schools triggered panic in the administration.
According to news reports, the counsellors have been recruited across all the schools. In schools with more than 250 students, there will be two counsellors. They have been hired on a contractual basis for the period of 10 months.
There are 600 JNVs across the country, offering education from class 6 to 12.
In January this year, the Ministry of Human Resource and Development had cleared a proposal for the recruitment of counsellors, alarmed over the rising incidents of suicide rates.
Between 2014-18, these residential schools reported close to 50 suicides. As per a report, half of the students who took the extreme step were from SC and ST communities.
Indian Express had reported that causes of suicide ranged from unrequited love, family problems, corporal punishment or humiliation by teachers to academic pressure, depression, and fight between friends.