Supreme Court sees a "suicide epidemic" among the students in India and has issued 15 interim guidelines under Articles 32 (enforcement of fundamental rights) and 141 (treating the court's pronouncement as law).
"The court’s intervention, grounded in the constitutional right to life under Article 21, came on a writ petition filed by the father of the deceased girl student after his plea for a CBI probe was rejected by the Andhra Pradesh high court." Quashing the Andhra Pradesh High Court's judgement, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI inquiry into the death of the student who was preparing for a national competitive examination for admission to medical colleges (NEET).
"The case underscores broader systemic issues, including the lack of mental health support, apart from exposing the toll of an education system that prioritises performance metrics over emotional well-being, particularly in coaching hubs like Kota, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chennai and Visakhapatnam, where students migrate in large numbers to prepare for competitive exams.
"The court directed all states and Union Territories to notify rules within two months for registering private coaching centres and enforcing these guidelines. District-level monitoring committees, chaired by District Magistrates, have been tasked to oversee compliance and handle complaints. The Union government must file a compliance affidavit within 90 days, detailing implementation steps and the status of the national Task Force on Mental Health, established earlier in Amit Kumar versus Union of India, 2025.
"As India grapples with the loss of over 13,000 student lives annually, the judgment underscores a simple truth: education should nurture, not destroy, young minds. The onus now lies on governments, institutions, and society to translate these directives into meaningful action, ensuring no more lives are lost to despair."
The pressure on the students mainly comes from parents and teachers. A lot of parents want their children to become doctors/engineers/IAS/IPS etc and teachers act like educational mercenaries under commercially driven educational institutions resulting in frequent tragic news of student suicides.
While the interim guidelines "to safeguard mental health of students across all educational institutions" is well intended, with all due respect to the Supreme Court guidelines, more government control in educational sector might be counter productive as genuine education requires individual centric guidance and less of rules and regulations from the government bureaucracy.
A solution to the crisis is not possible until the core problems are identified. The examination-certification system of Western origin needs to be shelved. Every child should be educated according to his/her swabhava and capacity and jobs should be given by employers not based on any prior certificate but a job-seeker's ability which is to be assessed by an interview/interaction/practical test followed by on job training cum probation for a few weeks or months.
Note: The quotes given above are from the article titled 'Classrooms in turmoil': Supreme Court’s 15 commandments to shield students from despair" , The New Indian Express, dated 27th July 2025
(Source of the image: The New Indian Express)