Tamil Nadu to appoint 800 doctors to counsel school students

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government will appoint 800 doctors to provide psychological counselling to school students under the ‘Manavar Manasu’ scheme.

State School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said in a statement on Tuesday that the project will be launched officially by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday.

Poyyamozhi said that the project would help students to improve mental health amid the tensions related to adolescence issues, pressure of studies, peer pressure and other issues related to behavioural changes in the children.

A class 12 girl in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore was found dead at her home, the third such instance in the state this month, according to a police official on Tuesday.

The girl allegedly died by hanging at Virudhachalam in the Cuddalore district.

A case of suspicious death has been registered by the Police and further investigation is underway.

This is the third such incident in Tamil Nadu reported this month.

Earlier, a 16-year-old girl reportedly died in her hostel premises of a private school in Kallakurichi. The girl’s parents suspected foul play while police said she died by suicide. In the second incident reported in the state, a Class 12 girl reportedly died by suicide in Tiruvallur district in her hostel room attached to a government-aided school.

According to the police, in the latest incident, the deceased died by suicide.

Speaking on the latest incident, Cuddalore SP S Sakthi Ganesan said, “She committed suicide due to domestic issues at her home.”

According to the reports, monthly tests were underway at the school, because of which she was upset regarding studies.

When the family of the deceased girl found out about the incident, they were stopped by the police from performing the last rites. The police sent the deceased’s body for autopsy to Virudhachalam Government Hospital.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister M.K.Stalin at a college event said, “Recent incidents (student suicides) in the state are painful. Educational institutes must perceive education as a service and not as a business. Students should be taught to deal with any situation. They shouldn’t have suicidal thoughts and must think about achieving more.”

In the earlier incident in the Tiruvallur district, the girl’s body was taken to the Tiruvallur government medical college and hospital for postmortem. Police claim she reportedly took the extreme step during the wee hours of Monday.

The incident led to protests by a few locals and parents near the school premises amid heavy police deployment.

Police said that her parents were daily wage labourers. The victim was studying in a government-aided school in Kilacheri village in the district.

On July 13, a 17-year-old girl reportedly died in her hostel premises of a private school in Kallakurichi.

The girl’s parents suspected foul play while police said she allegedly died by suicide.

The protests over the girl’s death reportedly turned violent on July 17 when the school was damaged, and police and school vehicles were set on fire. Around 52 police officials were also injured in the incident.