The Tragic Reality: Every hour a student commits suicide in India

Since 2012, there has been an increase in student suicide cases by 2.3% in India every year, whom should we blame? parents? government? or harsh competition in the education system? Or maybe everyone is at fault here.

As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report 2023, more than 13,000 students committed suicide, whereas, in 2023 July, 98+ NITs & IITs students took their lives, which was the highest number in the last five years.

Every student has a dream to become successful and stay on top, and due to not meeting the criteria set by their parents, education system, and society the last option they think is to end their lives.

Suicide is committed by students who are under mental stress but the government continues to treat it as a crime, do you think this is the correct way to reduce suicide cases? No right.

Here are some of the measures or strategies that the government should adopt to decrease student suicide cases in India.

Strategies To Reduce Student Suicide Cases In India

Hundreds of students can be saved if the Indian government initiates adopting these strategies to reduce suicide cases:

Less Competitive Education System

Nowadays, the education system has forced students to compete with each other in every stage whether it is school, college, or other educational fields. Most of the JEE and NEET aspirants commit suicide because they are pushed down if they don’t do well or don’t achieve the top spot. The Indian government should raise awareness among the students that education is not the end of the world, if they fail or don’t do well they can try again.

Normalize Talking About Mental Health & Other Concerns

Many students are being ignored by their parents, mentors, or other elders who are meant to solve their problems. This ignorant behaviour has led the candidates to hide their concerns from everyone which became a serious issue one day. Educational institutes, schools, colleges, etc must have a student counselor who can listen and give solutions to students.

Breaking Social Stereotypes

Parents expect too much from their children to score well or be better than others and put a very common phrase that we all have heard at least once in our lifetime “Log Kya Kahenge” as an excuse. Not only students but parents should also know that their child can make mistakes, putting such reasons in front of them will only make them mentally ill.

Promote Mental Exercise & Physical Activities In Education Institutes

Providing students with the facility of counselors, support groups, or professional psychiatrists will help them open up and discuss their problems, adding such facilities in educational institutes can help reduce students to commit suicide. Meditation should be promoted and practiced every week along with providing training to teachers, parents, and other staff on mental health first aid.

Counseling For Parents

Every education institute including schools, should organize a monthly counseling program for parents, where they must be taught how they can provide support to their child during the exam times or how they should not pressurize or set unrealistic goals for them. Parents are one of the main reasons for the increased number of student suicides in India.

Helpline Numbers

The central government launched KIRAN, a 24/7 national helpline set by the ministry of social justice, to reach them, you can call at 1800-599-0019.

One can also reach iCall, a psychosocial helpline set up by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). You can also mail [email protected] or dial 022-25521111 (Monday-Saturday, 8am to 10pm)

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