Stressful socio-academic climate in India that is contributing to a rise in student suicides
The current socio-academic climate in India raises significant concerns in the context of the nurturing of students.
The transformation of socio-economic dynamics is not only instilling a sense of despondency among youth but is also becoming a cause for stress in their academic endeavours.
This often causes students to go into a spiral, manifesting itself tragically in a spate of suicides.
Take for example, reports of a note that a teenager from Bihar wrote before fading away in Kota, Rajasthan.
The stress that the child was facing was evident in the reference to the ‘Joint Entrance Examination’ (JEE) that the child was preparing for.
In 2023, there were reports of youngsters preparing for various competitive exams in Kota ending their lives.
Based on police records, 15 students faded away in 2022; 18 in 2019 and 20 in 2018.
There was negligible data during the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020-21 when traditional coaching centres were either closed or operated virtually.
Factors Contributing to Stress
In 2022, according to data in the “Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2022” report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Over 13,044 Indian students ended their lives — 7.6% of the total suicide fatalities in that year.
Another grim statistic was that the number of suicides (students) rose from 10,335 in 2019, to 12,526 in 2020, to 13,089 in 2021.
As in NCRB data (2018), nearly 95,000 students faded away between 2007-18.
There is also another grim fact.
Over half of India’s populace, specifically 53.7%, is made up of individuals under the age of 25.
However, a significant barrier to their entry into the labour force is widespread deficiency in essential skills.
The last decade has seen a distressing rise in student suicides, which is also connected to a lack of viable job opportunities.
Its Impact
In contemporary Indian society, there is a noticeable shift in family structures with a weakening of crucial connections between children and their families.
This in turn impacts a child’s ability to engage with their relatives.
Various factors influence a child’s development within the Indian context, in turn affecting social relationships.
The lack of establishing strong bonds between parents and children becomes clear when parents impose their academic preferences on their child.
Parental control, emotional detachment, and societal expectations contribute to the sidelining of a student’s individual interests.
As a result, students grapple with the hurdle of meeting parental standards, especially when they have no innate interest in the subject or course forced upon them.
A feature in Indian society is the emphasis on expectations, performance, and personal interests in family interactions.
These dynamics can either propel students forward through positive reinforcement or negatively affect them due to socio-economic circumstances.
The inability to satisfy parental expectations can leave young individuals feeling humiliated, dejected, desperate, and harassed.
It is crucial to create an atmosphere of empathy and acceptance to cancel out any potential negative consequences for our younger generation.
The unyielding quest for scholastic distinction often overshadows the social facets of a student’s existence.
Driving them to sacrifice interpersonal bonds and pursuits that are essential for a well-rounded persona.
It is disconcerting to find young students voicing their inner turmoil on social media, signalling distress.
Educational purveyors themselves fail to provide the requisite emotional scaffolding that these young minds require.
Moreover, pupils from socioeconomically underserved communities are confronted with the stark actualities of endemic discrimination, thereby intensifying their hardships.
So, it becomes clear that there is an urgent need for our social infrastructure to grow more supportive and accommodative and support these young lives.
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