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Contents
- 1 What are statistics related to suicide among young people?
- 2 What are the causes behind increasing tendency among students towards suicidal thoughts?
- 3 Why suicidal tendencies among stdents in Kota are on rise?
- 4 How is the government paying more attention towards mental health issues?
- 5 What should be done?
Source– The post is based on the article “Kota suicides: Our children on the brink” published in “The Indian Express” on 7th September 2023.
Syllabus: GS2- Social Issues – Issues related to development and management of education
News– Kota is getting attention due to high incidence of student suicides over the past decade or longer, with over 100 young lives lost during that period. This year city has recorded 23 suicides.
Suicide is the leading cause of death among individuals aged 15 to 30, making India the global leader in this age group.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2020, a student committed suicide every 42 minutes. It equated to 34 student suicides daily. During the same year, 11,396 children below the age of 18 tragically took their own lives.
What are the causes behind increasing tendency among students towards suicidal thoughts?
It reveals the neglect of our society in addressing the emotional needs and vulnerabilities of our children.
Suicidal thoughts or actions result from a complex interplay of various factors. It includes biological, socioemotional, cultural, political, and issues related to social justice.
For young individuals, this complexity can manifest as developmental differences, parental and family expectations, and the discrimination or marginalisation based on caste, religion.
Why suicidal tendencies among stdents in Kota are on rise?
The coaching industry in Kota is estimated to be valued at a staggering Rs 12,000 crore. It prioritises its interests over student well-being.
Its primary concern is to extract maximum benefits from the thousands of students and their families, both financially and in terms of achieving exceptional results.
These results provide them with poster children for their full-page advertisements in national newspapers to attract more students.
To enhance competitiveness, they intensify the pressure through frequent testing, sharing the scores with parents, giving preferential treatment to high-achievers, and ignoring those students who struggle.
Helpless students find themselves trapped in 12-hour daily schedules, seven days a week, without any respite or relief. They have no one to turn to when they experience distress and self-doubt.
There are no mechanisms to accommodate individual differences, no safe spaces for students to share and support each other, and no compassionate, nurturing faculty members who will mentor students.
How is the government paying more attention towards mental health issues?
Prior to the onset of COVID-19, the annual budget allocated to the National Mental Health Programme was a mere Rs 40 crore. However, it has now increased more than threefold to Rs 134 crore for the fiscal year 2023-24.
The government of Rajasthan has taken proactive steps to address the crisis in Kota and has pledged to investigate and implement solutions.
What should be done?
Impulsive reactions and superficial solutions, such as installing fans with springs, using CCTVs, and resorting to punitive measures against scapegoats, will not lead to sustainable improvements.
There is a need for a more profound and sustained commitment involving all stakeholders, including parents, educators, influential institutions, policymakers, professionals, individuals with personal experiences, and young people.
