Well-being is the basis for producing excellent students. Students' wisdom and their capabilities in managing commitments and responsibilities become an important requirement to achieve success.

However, the current youth generation are now easily affected by the problem of emotional disturbances due to the various challenges that need to be overcome. This is clearly seen to happen to those who are university students. The need to meet good achievements becomes a conflict in students to the point that they fail to control their level of stress and emotion well.

The importance of youth lies not only in their large numbers and as the main force in society, but also in terms of their role as a link between one generation and another. Therefore, efforts to produce a holistic youth from various aspects, especially emotional aspects, are very important and should be taken seriously by various parties.

There are several factors that lead to emotional stress among students. Among them are learning problems, low self-concept, family issues, worries about future careers and time management. These factors are among the main causes which lead to poor academic achievement. Therefore, this matter needs to be taken seriously by every higher education institution in order to produce a quality and holistic graduate.

Possible solutions

Several measures have been identified to overcome the problems faced.

First, the learning problems faced by students can be overcome by creating study groups and frequent student- lecturer contact for any problem that arises.

Second, as mentioned before, low self-concept is a major obstacle for students' success. Hence, the student committee needs to become more creative by actively implementing programmes to strengthen self-concept such as organising motivational workshops, activities that can stimulate social skills, and improve students' self-concept.

Third, family problem is another issue faced by students. In order to overcome this issue, counselling services can become a platform for students to solve problems with the help of certified counsellors.

Next, the factor of anxiety about the future career can be reduced by helping the students and directing them to know the right channel to apply for a job. This can be achieved by organising a career-week programme where students can meet with employment agencies, whether government or private, to get more information on job applications and create a network to facilitate the job search process later.

As for the time management factor, the exposure of effective time management techniques through educational programmes related to good time management can be helpful for the students from being plagued by inefficient time management issues.

In conclusion, serious attention needs to be given to university students to help them to attain better academic achievement as well as to ensure they are emotionally, mentally and physically healthy. This is because they are the pioneer generation in developing the country and become the pillars of a country's development. Therefore, the attention on preparation of motivational programmes and the monitoring of student learning performance should be done regularly to avoid problems such as stress and dropping out of learning in students.

The problem of emotional disturbances needs to be well addressed and resolved in helping the students to stay focused during the learning and teaching period. This, in turn, can produce a quality and competitive graduate which will help in Malaysia’s progress and economic growth.

-- BERNAMA

Dr Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz is a Senior Lecturer, Counselling Program, at the Faculty of Leadership and Management, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.