Ongoing pandemic has changed the way we look at classroom teaching and evaluation. Keeping in view safety of the students, faculty and others, focus was more on online teaching. The new normal has been adopted seamlessly in KIIT.
A committee was constituted by Hon’ble Founder KIIT & KISS, Dr A.Samanta to look after the mental health of the teaching and non teaching staff during the pandemic. It was mandated to counsel the staff and other members in the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and necessary dissemination through social media. In order to address the concerns of the participants on the clinical side, counseling cell enlisted the support of the doctors. Accordingly, a series of sensitization sessions, namely “Hope in times of Covid” was rolled out for all the members of the KIIT/KISS family from June 2020, through Zoom and Google meets.
Counseling Cell addressed around 953 students during 2020-2022 on matters relating to psycho-social status, lifestyle, substance abuse, relationship and emotional and behavioural cohesiveness. It was generally seen that during pandemic, lifestyle problems increased the most, followed by relationship, emotional and behavioural issues and at the end substance abuse.
Students coming from school and home environment directly to the University creates its own adjustment problems at times. Exposure to different peer groups and academic and social factors pose different challenges to the students. Being alive to the situation we take appropriate preventive measures and stay connected with the students to make their experience as comfortable as possible. Wherever intervention by way of counseling becomes necessary, same is done maintaining confidentiality and ensuring that dignity of the student is in no way compromised.