There has been a spurt in news related to suicides by students in the country. Every now and then, there is news of a student dying by suicide fearing underperformance in competitive exams.
At least 26 engineering aspirants died by suicide in Kota, Rajasthan, last year, which is known as the nursery of engineering coaching classes.
Now, according to a new report by a non-profit organisation IC3, incidents of student suicides in India have grown at an alarming annual rate, surpassing the population growth rate and overall suicide trends.
Based on the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the ‘Student suicides: An epidemic sweeping India’ report pointed out that while the overall suicide numbers increased by two per cent annually, student suicides cases surged by four per cent, despite a likely under reporting of student suicide cases.
Over the past two decades, student suicides have grown at an alarming annual rate of four per cent, double the national average.
The report highlights that in 2022, there were 13,044 reported student suicides in India, a marginal decrease from 13,089 in 2021. Despite this slight drop, the overall suicide rate — encompassing both students and the general population — rose significantly by 4.2 per cent, climbing from 164,033 in 2021 to 170,924 in 2022.
Notably, the rate of student suicides has been rising at twice the pace of overall suicides over the past 20 years.
According to the report, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh are identified as the states with the highest number of student suicides, together accounting for one-third of the national total.
Southern states and union territories collectively contribute 29 per cent of these cases, while Rajasthan, known for its high-stakes academic environment, ranks 10th, highlighting the intense pressure associated with coaching hubs like Kota.
Meanwhile, the gender disparities are also striking: male student suicides have risen by 50 per cent, while female suicides have increased by 61 per cent over the last decade. In 2022, male students accounted for 53 per cent of the total student suicides.
Despite a six per cent decrease in male student suicides between 2021 and 2022, female student suicides rose by seven per cent. Over the past decade, male student suicides have surged by 99 per cent, with female suicides increasing by 92 per cent.
The report serves as a reminder of the urgent need to address mental health challenges within our learning institutions.
Our educational focus must shift to fostering the competencies of our learners such that it supports their overall well-being, versus pushing them to compete amongst each other.
It is imperative that we build a systematic, comprehensive, and robust career and college counselling system within each institution, while seamlessly integrating the same within the learning curriculum.
There has to be complete shift from obsession for pushing our children towards competitive exams and forcing them to take up medical, engineering or civil services as career options to nurturing core competencies and well-being, thereby supporting students more effectively and preventing such tragedies.
The process of choosing a career path is usually undertaken at quite a young age when students are not even fully aware of their interests.While for some the career choice is pre-decided by their parents, others often struggle to find the right career path, thereby going through a lot of pressure.
The fact that marks heavily influence the career stream students can or cannot opt for, pressurises them to score well. As a result, the focus is on getting good grades instead of acquiring knowledge.When students are not able to score well, they are overwhelmed with feelings of extreme sadness and hopelessness.
Moreover, even if students are able to pursue their desired fields, half-way through they realise it’s not in sync with their interests and aptitude. They feel stuck, but due to the parental or societal pressure, they fail to speak about it which has a detrimental effect on their mind and subsequently take their own lives.
Children should be encouraged to follow their dreams instead of being told what to do. The parents should believe in their abilities and letthem pursue their own interests and choose their career as per their inclination towards a particular field.Instead of pushing them towards a career path, children should be allowed to explore various fields as today career options have increased multi-fold.
More often than not, the parents tend to force their unfulfilled aspirations on their children. They expect that their children would become engineers, doctors, civil servants so that they could earn handsome salaries and alleviate them from their weak socio-economic situation.
While having such dreams is not wrong, but the capability of their wards also have to be taken into consideration, before pushing them towards a point of no return. Lives of our beloved children are more important that being able to pursue a certain pre-selected career option.