Lok Sabha Question No. 38 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-22
Subject: Incidents of Suicide Cases of Students
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Shri Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 38 ANSWERED ON 22.07.2024

## Incidents of Suicide Cases of Students

## †38 Shri Ramvir Singh Bidhuri:

Shri Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  spread  awareness  among  students  preparing  for competitive examinations across the country in view of the increasing incidents of suicide;

(b) whether the Government proposes more plans to strengthen mental health among students, if so the details thereof;

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  issued  any  specific  instruction  for  the  functioning  of  coaching centers across the country and if so, the details thereof;

(d)  whether  the  unregulated  private  coaching  centers  in  the  country  are  growing  rapidly  in  the absence of any laid down policy or regulation and if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether such centers are charging exorbitant fees from the students and also engaged in other malpractices;

(f) if so, the action taken by the Government against such erring coaching institutes; and

(g)  whether  any  mechanism  exists  for  filing  complaints  against  coaching  centers  by  students  or parents and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a) & (b): In order to address the issue of suicide among students, the Government is taking multipronged measures and provides psychological support to students, teachers and families for mental and emotional well-being to avoid incidences of suicide.

NCERT has developed and launched National Curriculum Framework for the Foundational Stage (NCF-FS)  and  National  Curriculum  Framework  for  School  Education  (NCF-SE).  NCF-FS  was launched  on  20th  October,  2022  while  NCF-SE  was  launched  on  20th  February  2023.  Both  the NCFs integrate the mental well-being of students.

Further,  Ministry  of  Education  (MoE),  has  launched  an  initiative,  Manodarpan,  with  the  aim  to provide psychosocial support to students, their families and teachers across the country, for mental health and well-being during the times of COVID-19 and beyond. All activities undertaken under the Manodarpan initiative are aimed towards supporting the metal health and well-being of students from schools, colleges and universities, including those students who are preparing for competitive examinations.

UGC  has  also  issued  Guidelines  for  Promotion  of  Physical  Fitness,  Sports,  Student's  Health, Welfare,  Psychological  and  Emotional  Well-  being  at  HEIs  on  13.04.2023,  which  provides  for promoting physical fitness and sports activities for students; creating safeguards against academic pressure, peer pressure, behavioral issues, stress, career concerns, depression and other issues on the mental health of students; to teach positive thinking & emotions in the student community; and to promote a positive and supportive network for students.

The Ministry on 10.07.2023 has also circulated a broad framework for emotional and mental well being of students in HEIs with request to take proactive measures to incorporate the same in the institutional functioning and instill a feeling of confidence in the student community.

Accordingly, IIT Delhi, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Madras and IIT Guwahati organized Workshops on Mental Wellness & Stress Management, on 30th May, 2023, 9-10th June, 2023, 12th May, 2023 and  26th  August  2023  respectively.    Inter  IIT  Wellness  Meet  was  organized  by  IIT  Roorkee  on 13th-14th February, 2024, and Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IITGN) hosted a twoday  workshop  on  students'  mental  well-being  titled  'Building  Scalable  Systems  for  Student Wellbeing in Residential Programs' in its campus on March 4-5, 2024.

Department of Higher Education has conceptualized a Capacity Building Programme for Promoting Positive Mental Health, Resilience & Wellbeing in HEIs under Integrated approach for Promoting Positive Mental Health, Resilience & Wellbeing in HEIs. The program aims for sustained capacity building  of  faculty  in  HEIs,  providing  a  platform  for  sharing  of  best  practices  and  collaborating with panel of experts to focus on mental health & wellbeing of the students in HEIs.

(c) to (g) : Keeping in view the growth in number of unregulated private coaching centers in the country in the absence of any laid down policy or regulation; instances of such centers charging exorbitant  fees  from  students;  undue  stress  on  students  resulting  in  students  committing  suicides and many other malpractices being adopted by these centres; Ministry of Education has circulated a Guidelines for Regulation of Coaching Centers to States/UTs on 16.01.2024 for consideration by way of appropriate legal framework.

The  Guidelines  encompass  several  key  aspects,  including  defining  coaching  centers,  specifying conditions and necessary documents for registration, issues related to  fees, outlining infrastructure prerequisites for establishing coaching centers, establishing a code of conduct for coaching centers; lay emphasis on significance of mental well-being, advocating for the prioritization of counsellors and psychologists' support within coaching centres; no batch segregation; maintenance of records etc.

The  guidelines,  inter-alia,  stipulate  continuous  monitoring  of  activities  of  the  coaching  center; introducing  a  complaint  mechanism  and  disposal  thereof;  penalties;  process  for  cancellation  of registration and appeals etc.

Education being in the concurrent list, the State and UT Government need to take further action by way of appropriate legal framework.