IIT-K asks parents not to provide laptops to new students

The registrar said that students spend significant amount of study time surfing and gossipping in chat rooms.

Perturbed over cases of students committing suicide at the IIT Kanpur,the institute authorities have asked the parents of new students not to give them laptops in first year so that they cannot use Internet late night.

“Hostelers keep surfing the Internet throughout the night. When they go for the classes the next morning,they are tired due to lack of sleep. Thus,they are not able to concentrate

on academics. This leads to stress,” S S Kashalkar,registrar,IIT-Kanpur said.

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He said students in first year as such do not require laptops and if there is a need they can avail the facility at the institute’s computer centres.

He said that students spend a significant amount of study time surfing irrelevant web sites,gossipping in chat rooms and playing interactive games on the Internet.

“There are 5000 students in IIT and it is not possible to check whether one is asleep or on the net after midnight. So we have advised the parents not to provide laptops to their children in first year,” he said.

He said the institute is concerned over the increasing incidents of suicides by students and taking all measures to de-stress them.

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The institute has psychiatrists,a yoga centre and a counselling centre for students to deal with the problem of stress.

There are playing grounds and other means of entertainment for the students to de-stress,he said.

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