Visakhapatnam: With the suicide of a student from Vizag at IIT Guwahati, the focus has shifted to the Intermediate education system in Andhra Pradesh.

Experts opine that the corporate junior colleges produce students who are ill equipped to cope with the academic system and pressures at premier educational institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology.

Academicians from the field of engineering and psychology feel that the rote learning and marks-oriented approach by junior colleges leave students unable to cope with the sudden change when they join a premier institute.

Prof P. Srinivasa Rao, head of computer science department at the Andhra University College of Engineering, said, “The education system in junior colleges is bogus and should be scrapped. They do not let the students think freely and focus on mugging. Premier institutes focus on application of mind.”

Speaking about the extreme steps which students sometime resort to at premier institutions when faced with failures, he said, “The general attitude of students is also to be blamed.

Once they get admission into a good college, they feel as if they have achieved everything and stop studying. By the time the reality dawns on a few students, it is usually too late and they fail.

Parents also do not keep a track of their kids once they get into a good college. Some parents do not even care to talk about their child’s experience at the college.”

Head of psychology and para-psychology department at AU, Prof M.V.R. Raju, criticised the  junior colleges which run for long hours and said, “Personality development and career guidance are the need of the hour at junior colleges.

None of the junior colleges care about these. On top of it, sometimes children are forced to take up a particular course or join a particular college by their parents. This affects them mentally. Junior colleges segregate children based on their marks and this  affects the student’s psychology.”

He adds that students who suffer from depression or mental stress can be treated with counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy.