Nearly 70 per cent of total student suicides were committed by school-going students, with students from Class 9 and 10 accounting for the highest share.
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 Kharagpur, a second-year bachelor of dental surgery student at Sharda University in Greater Noida, a 15-year-old Class 10 student in Ahmedabad, and a 19-year-old Delhi University student from Tripura.
Note: Rate of suicides refers to number of suicides per 100,000 of population. Source: NCRB 2022 data
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 9 and 10 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 to 5 per cent.
Source: NCRB 2022
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff