Another suicide. It’s a wakeup call

On February 13, the body of an IIT aspirant was discovered in his dorm room. This was the fourth student suicide of the year in Kota. Shubh Choudhary, a Jharkhand resident preparing for JEE-Mains, was shocked by his lower-than-anticipated score when the results were announced. He went back to his dorm room, only to be found hanging from a ceiling fan.

A total of 12,31,874 candidates were enrolled for both components of the JEE Mains examination this year, with 11,70,036 individuals actually taking the test. The question arises: Is it parental pressure or societal obligation to enrol in these competitive exams, or do 12 lakh Indian students actually aspire to become engineers every year?

In India, the pursuit of academic excellence is closely tied to success in life, and children are under constant pressure to perform well in school from an early age. In addition to parental pressure, deeply ingrained cultural expectations from society also contribute to this stress. Their career path is ingrained with intense pressure and competition, from doing well in school exams to getting into esteemed colleges.
In many Indian homes, maintaining family honour and ensuring a “bright future” are as important as personal fulfilment when it comes to the pressure to perform well academically.

The pressure to perform well is most intense over competitive tests such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for engineering programmes at the IITs or the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for medical programmes as these are viewed as the only doors to well-paying jobs. Parents frequently have lofty expectations from their children because they want to see them achieve “success”.

Pressure to perform well in school can take many different forms, such as enrolling children in a lot of extracurricular activities to give them a well-rounded profile, or even starting tutoring or coaching programmes at an early age. Although these behaviours could have the best of intentions behind them, they can add to feelings of inadequacy and increased stress in students, sometimes leading them to the extreme step of taking their own lives.

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that some 13,000 students committed suicide in 2021, a 27% increase from 2016. Twenty-six students ended their lives in Kota alone in 2023; the majority were preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and Advanced for engineering, or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG) for admission to medical colleges. Across age groups, 2,095 people ended their lives after failing examinations. Maharashtra had the largest number (378), followed by Jharkhand (174) and Madhya Pradesh (277). Gujarat (155) and Karnataka (162) also have high rates of suicide fatalities linked to examination failure.
Suicidal thoughts typically come from a sense of helplessness in an apparently overwhelming life circumstance. If one does not think there is hope for the future, one might conclude that suicide is the best course of action. When facing a crisis, one could have a kind of tunnel vision and think that the only thing they can do is end their life. Though parental and societal pressure to perform well can be an important contributing factor to student suicide rates, other reasons such as social isolation, substance abuse, loss of a loved one, or stressful life events can also be vital reasons for suicide.

There are several different and related reasons why students take the extreme step of ending their lives when under academic stress. Exams, competition, and lofty expectations of performance are all major causes of academic stress, but these factors are frequently aggravated by underlying mental health conditions. The pressures of school can cause anxiety in students, and other factors like social isolation, financial stress, and expectations from family can make it worse.

The alarming rise in student suicides caused by academic stress and pressure is a major problem, emphasising the need for a varied approach that goes beyond professional therapies. This complicated condition has several roots and symptoms, indicating that treating it merely in clinical settings is insufficient. Parents, society, and new non-clinical approaches will play important roles in reducing student suicides. It is critical to identify the warning signs and symptoms of student suffering in order to prevent suicides. These might include social disengagement, behavioural or emotional alterations, academic degradation, and depressive or worthless emotions.

Parents play an essential role in helping their children’s psychological stability and well-being. Essential actions parents may take include being aware of symptoms of distress, developing healthy communication, and creating a supportive and open environment at home. Parents may also advocate for modifications to the educational system that put the needs of their children’s overall health above their academic performance. The structural problems that contribute to students’ academic stress and pressure must also be addressed by society as a whole. Important preventive measures include lowering the focus on standardised testing, advocating for mental health education in schools, and developing welcoming environments where children feel appreciated for who they are outside of their academic achievements.

Creating a culture of support also requires de-stigmatising treatment for mental health problems and making resources easily accessible.
Extra levels of support and intervention can be provided by peer support groups, mentorship programmes, school-based wellness initiatives, and community outreach projects.

These non-clinical options offer places where students can interact, exchange stories, and get information in a less structured setting. Students can also avail themselves of psychometric tests to assess aptitude, interests, and strengths that can guide them towards fulfilling paths before making a career choice.

By aligning pursuits with natural abilities, students may experience less pressure and find greater success, instead of being forced into mainstream fields such as engineering and medicine disregarding their aptitude and ability. Preventing student suicides brought on by stress and pressure due to academics calls for a comprehensive approach involving parents, the community, and clinical as well as creative non-clinical methods.

This is the least society can do for its children.

(The writer is a BSc (Hons) Psychology student at the School of Social Sciences, Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences)