Education and Mental Health Challenges in India

The intense competition in the Indian education system, particularly in state-funded institutions and elite schools like IITs, IIMs, and NLUs, creates significant stress for students. This is compounded by the disparity between the demand and supply of educational seats.

Challenges Faced by Students

• Surviving competitive entrance exams leads to further academic pressure.
• Students, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, face under-confidence, mental health issues, and isolation.
• Performance anxiety adversely affects learning capacities.
• In extreme cases, students may attempt or commit suicide due to the overwhelming pressure.

Efforts to Mitigate Stress

• IIT-KGP has relaxed rules to create a balance between academics and well-being.
• BITS Pilani-Goa has added stress management to its syllabus.

Judicial and Institutional Responses

• The Supreme Court highlighted the need for a more responsive system to address mental stress in students, describing the situation as a ‘suicide epidemic’.
• An order for the formation of a task force to tackle campus mental health issues was made.

Statistics and Data

• According to NCRB data, students accounted for 7.6% of total suicides in 2022.
• 1.2% of these suicides were linked to career problems and another 1.2% to exam failure.

Recommendations for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

• Improve grievance redressal systems to protect students from academic harassment and discrimination.
• Develop urgent intervention mechanisms for distressed students.
• Rethink rigid evaluation systems to ease competition.
• Create safer, more inclusive, and welcoming campuses to optimize students' talents.