Student suicides: A brewing problem

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Parliament on Monday that 122 students from the central government-run higher education institutions died by suicide between 2014 and 2021. Of the 122 students, 24 belonged to the Scheduled Castes (SC), three were from the Scheduled Tribes (ST), and 41 were from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The deaths happened in top government institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, and Institutes of Information Technology. The highest number of deaths were from central universities, 37; out of this, nine were SC, one ST and 14 OBC — roughly two-thirds — while three were minorities. Thirty-four students died by suicide in IITs, out of which five were SC and 13 OBCs. Another 30 students died of suicide in NITs, out of which six were SC and 11 OBC.

While every campus death is heartbreaking, the fact that so many students from the marginalised classes have died by suicide show that these top campuses, despite being better resourced and staffed than other institutes, are failing to provide adequate support to students who need it the most. It is wellknown that many marginalised students — who are often first-generation learners and come from nonelite backgrounds — are often traumatised, thanks to the hostile and unfriendly attitude of many teachers and students who come from privileged homes. Other stress points include intense competition, language barriers, and inability to cope with academic pressure. The coronavirus pandemic has only added to the existing set of pressures.