The Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi on Tuesday said it will to change its syllabus in a way that will not put undue pressure on students and help them keep suicidal tendencies at bay, PTI reported. The move comes against the backdrop of the Union Human Resource and Development Ministry asking all IITs to take new initiatives, in addition to the existing measures, to curb student suicides.

The revised curriculum, which is likely to be implemented from next year, will focus less on theory and more on practical, hands-on experience, the institute said.

The departments at IIT have been asked to draft a revised curriculum which will be approved by the institute’s Governing Body. “There is a constant effort to help students cope with stress but there are always one or two cases,” IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao told PTI. “All IITs are undertaking initiatives but nothing seems to be enough.”

He said the IIT Delhi amnidstration in an internal survey found that there was a mismatch between the students’ and the institution’s expectations. “By the time students come to IIT, they are tired of endless studying and they want to enjoy a bit,” Rao said. “We, unfortunately, do not offer any scope for that.”

He also said that it was important to guide students at fresher-level. If they start developing “cold feet” and have “backlogs”, it becomes difficult for them to survive for another three years, Rao said.

“Hence an overhaul was necessary to reduce the theory component and introduce more hands-on training so they can simply go to the lab and try applying what they have learnt so far,” he said.

The IIT Council, the apex coordination body for 23 IITs, had last week decided at a meeting chaired by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar that all IITs will have wellness centres to help students deal with stress. The issue drew attention after the recent suicide by an IIT Kharagpur student, the third such case at the institute this year.