Bhubaneswar: A year after Supreme Court laid down guidelines to safeguard students’ mental health, safety and well-being, the state govt has begun a compliance check of higher educational institutions and private coaching centres across all districts.Higher education department has directed regional directors of education in Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Berhampur, Jeypore and Sambalpur to examine whether institutions, particularly private coaching centres, are complying with the court’s directives and submit compliance reports to the department soon.The exercise follows Supreme Court’s guidelines issued in Aug 2025 amid concerns over student suicides and the academic and other pressures faced by students in educational and coaching environments.The guidelines, among other measures, call for educational institutions to appoint trained counsellors and psychologists, conduct regular mental-health check-ups and put mechanisms in place to prevent bullying and harassment. They also emphasise that students should not face discrimination based on caste, gender or academic performance.The regional directors have been asked to assess measures adopted by institutions and coaching centres to ensure a safe and supportive environment for students and report on their compliance with the prescribed norms.Educationist Trilochan Pradhan said the compliance exercise could bring greater scrutiny to private coaching centres, where enforcement of student-welfare measures, including protecting the mental health of young students, has remained a concern. “As per the Supreme Court guideline, any educational institution with more than 100 students should appoint a trained mental-health counsellor, a provision that is being followed by some public universities and colleges. However, there has been no enforcement to check whether private coaching centres are complying with it so far,” he said.He added that the coaching sector had become highly commercialised and, unlike formal educational institutions, lacked a clear regulatory framework in Odisha.The issue assumes significance as the state govt has drafted Odisha Coaching Centres and Private Hostels (Regulation and Control) Bill, 2025, which is yet to be passed.Earlier, the govt had proposed Odisha Coaching Institutes (Control and Regulation) Act, 2017, but it was never implemented. Following receipt of compliance reports from RDEs, the department will file a compliance affidavit before Supreme Court.
