“live a little every day, Ek hi Zindagi Mili hai (you have got but one life ).” these were the last few words found on an eight-page-long note written by a deceased postgraduate student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad. The student was found dead on July 2 last year in his hostel room.
Every hour one student commits suicide in India, every time we hear about a student committing suicide in India, we assume failure in some exams to be the cause.
Hold a mirror to the education system:-
suicides in premier institutes such a IITs hold a mirror to the education system. as per data from the department of higher education, under the ministry of human resource development (MHRD),27 students across 10 Indian institutes of technology (IITs) committed suicides between 2014 and 2019.IIT Madras tops the list, with seven students losing their lives during this period.
Rate highest in the 15-29 age group:-
according to a 2012 report, suicide rates in India are highest in the 15-29age group of the youth population. The report says that 40% of suicides were by individuals aged 15-29, while it was almost 60% for women.
Mrugesh Vaishnav, president of the Indian psychiatrist society, said, "stress, anxiety disorder, depression, personality disorder - all these results in mental illness that leads a student towards suicides. this happens when the students are not familiar with their surroundings. "Relationship breakdown is another leading cause."
What are the other causes of student suicides in India?
1.forced career choices:-
in our country, generally, many students succumb to a very high amount of pressure, especially from their family and teachers, regarding their career choices and studies. Even in Kirti's case, her being forced to take up science by her mother, as stated in her suicide letter, made her take this drastic step.
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2.poor education system:-
poor quality education is leading to poor learning outcomes in India, ultimately pushing children out of the education system and learning them vulnerable to child labor, abuse, and violence. Many classrooms continue to be characterized by teacher-centered learning, corporal punishment, and discrimination.
3.Not speaking up:-
in many cases, it so happens that the victims find it hard to freely express their concerns about the pressure they are dealing with, even with their parents. In one such case last year, a student, Anjali Anand, committed suicide because she anticipated not performing well in an exam she was preparing for.
in her suicide note, Anjali tells her parents,” I cannot face you if I am not selected. “
the question it raises is, would it not have helped if she could freely discuss this will her parents or seek some professional help?
What should be done?
Parents and teachers must start making an effort to understand their children's caliber and abilities. To pressure them and blame them for their poor academic performance will only add to their miseries. This will make them suffer in silence and force them to feel lonely, and stress combined can slowly lead them to depression.
For students, it is important to understand that suicide is not a solution. It only devastates not only their own but many other lives .there is help available out there. There are counselors, psychologists, and even species friends who are more than willing to help them cope with it.
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