Need assessment of a structured peer support system for university students

Pages: 1-6
Rajinder Kaur (Department of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Community Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)
Seema Sharma (Department of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Community Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)
Tejpreet K. Kang (Department of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Community Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)

Structured peer support system can offer an effective way of supporting the newly admitted students to adjust well at the university level. Structured peer support assists them to learn and grow together instead of one helping the other with a focus on community and relationship. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the need of a structured peer support system for university students of Punjab. The sample comprised of 480 students from science stream studying in the 1st and 2nd year of undergraduate programmes drawn randomly from three purposively selected government universities of Punjab state, i.e., Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (GNDU); Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (PAU) and Punjabi University, Patiala (PUP). A self structured questionnaire was administered to collect the information regarding the aspects related to the need for a structured peer support system in the university students. The results of the study illustrated that majority of the students from selected universities perceived high need of a structured peer support system. Furthermore, major proportion of 1st year students from GNDU and 2nd year students from PAU and PUP reported high need of structured support in emotional and academic sphere of a structured peer support system. Statistically significant differences were found in the ‘social sphere’ dimension of need of a structured peer support system and overall need of a structured peer support system among students from selected government universities.