The Government today admitted that suicides committed by students are a matter of great concern. The Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr. Kapil Sibal, said in the Lok Sabha, in a written reply that the government has taken the issue seriously and a number of steps have been taken to reduce examination related stress. He said that various socio-economic factors contribute to the stress and anxiety among students, specially the school children. The Minister, while outlining the steps taken so far, said that these include doing away with class ten board examinations from 2011. He said introduction of grading system at school level, providing counselling both students and parents and allowing fifteen minutes additional time to read question paper, are among the other measures proposed to de-stress the school children. He said that the Indian Institute of Technology has also taken several measures to reduce academic strain on weak students through special slow pace programme, mentoring programmes and providing facilities for psychiatric interventions. The government has also taken specific measures to check anti-ragging including sensitizing the various stakeholders through media. Anti-ragging helpline is also available with call centre facilities in English, Hindi and other regional languages.