Datanomics: Study pressure? School students account for most suicides

Both the total number and rate of suicides per 100,000 population in India have risen since 2020

The Supreme Court on July 25 issued pan-Indian 15 interim guidelines to tackle suicides and mental health crises among students in educational institutions.

 

This comes amid a series of student suicides reported recently. These include suicide committed by a fourth-year engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, a second-year bachelor of dental surgery student at Sharda University in Greater Noida, a 15-year-old class X student in Ahmedabad, and a 19-year-old Delhi University student from Tripura.  

 

Since 2020, both the total number and rate of suicides per 100,000 population in India have risen (Chart 1). Student suicides accounted for about eight per cent of total suicides during 2020-2022 (Chart 2). Nearly 70 per cent of total student suicides were committed by school-going students, with students from class IXth and Xth accounting for the highest share. Suicides committed by highly educated students have also seen a rise, though cases among graduates and above accounted for only around 4–5 per cent. 

Note: Rate of suicides refers to number of suicides per 100,000 of population Source: NCRB 2022 data 

Source: NCRB 2022