The Supreme Court on Friday, July 25, 2025, brought up the matter of rising student suicides in educational institutions and has issued a 12-point guidelines aimed at addressing this.
According to a report by News18, SC said that the alarming rise in suicides hints at a “systemic failure”.
“The continued loss of young lives, often due to preventable causes rooted in unattended psychological distress, academic overburden, social stigma, and institutional insensitivity, reflect a systemic failure that cannot be ignored," said the SC.
As per the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), India recorded 1,70,924 suicide cases in 2022 alone, of which around 13,044 suicides, which account for 7.6% of the total, were student suicides.
Most notably, 2,248 of these student suicides were attributed to examination failures, as highlighted by the judicial bench.
The statistics further show a perturbing trend – student suicides have peaked over the past two decades, soaring from 5,425 reported cases in 2001 to over 13,000 in 2022.
This data suggests rising academic and societal pressures faced by the students, thereby raising serious questions about the effectiveness of a mental support system and the necessity of educational reforms in educational institutions.
“Dedicated mentors or counsellors shall be assigned to smaller batches of students, especially during examination periods and academic transitions, to provide consistent, informal, and confidential support," noted the court.
The court also made it a point for the teaching and non-teaching staff to undergo mental health training at least twice a year. The training, which has to be led by certified mental health professionals, should emphasise equipping staff with skills in various aspects, including psychological first aid, appropriate and immediate response to self-harm, identifying signs of emotional distress and adhering to referral protocols.
Institutions are to train this professional staff to engage with students from marginalised and vulnerable backgrounds sensitively, in order to ensure a non-discriminatory environment. They must also set up internal committees to attend to issues pertaining to sexual harassment, student grievances, ragging, and providing psycho-social support.
Further, the court directed that institutions should integrate mental health education, life skills, and emotional regulation into student programmes, while also maintaining wellness records anonymously.