No data on student suicides across NEET coaching centres; NEP 2020 lays out guidelines for counselling: Government

'The number of suicide cases of students of all these institutions and various coaching centres including coaching centres for NEET across the country are not maintained,' Sarkar said.

According to NEP 2020, there has to be a counselling system for helping students handle stress in every institute. 

The government Monday clarified that the number of suicide cases of students of all educational institutions and various coaching centres, including coaching centres for NEET, across the country is not maintained. The statement was issued by the Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar in the Parliament.

Sarkar was replying to questions raised by Dr TR Paarivendhar and Ravneet Singh Bittu. The two MPs had questioned the government about data on suicide cases of NEET students and if they have any proposal to frame a standard guideline to run coaching centres/ institutions across the country to save the students from forced suicide.

“Education being a concurrent list subject, Educational Institutions are managed by both Central and State Government. The majority of the Educational Institutions in the country falls in the purview of the State / UT Government. The number of suicide cases of students of all these institutions and various coaching centres including coaching centres for NEET across the country are not maintained. However, as per the Accidental Deaths & Suicide in India (ADSI), 2021, Report of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), there are various causes of suicides like professional / Career problems, sense of isolation, abuse, violence, family problems, mental disorders etc,” Sarkar said.

Talking about the measures the government has adopted to prevent such cases, he informed the Parliament that according to NEP 2020, there has to be a counselling system to help students handle stress in every institute. “It also provides opportunities for students participation in sports, culture/arts clubs, eco-clubs, activity clubs, community service projects, etc,” he added.

“The Ministry has undertaken various steps such as peer-assisted learning, introduction of technical education in regional languages for students to ease academic stress. The Government of India initiative, named MANODARPAN, covers a wide range of activities to provide psychological support to students, teachers and families for mental and emotional well-being during the COVID outbreak and beyond. The Ministry has also advised the institutions to make the system more robust that would include prevention, detection and remedial measures for addressing possible cause of suicides,” Sarkar explained.

He also added that all higher education institutes (HEIs) have been instructed to conduct workshops/ seminars on happiness and wellness, regular sessions on Yoga, induction programmes, extracurricular activities including sports and cultural activities, and more.