Recent death of student in BITS Pilani, Goa campus, highlights the need for suicide prevention programmes in educational institutions. Some states in India have found that suicidal ideation and suicide attempts are alarmingly high among college students. The fear of failure also makes the mind lose self-confidence and leads to psychological imbalances and suicides among susceptible youth. Student suicides can be averted, but merely setting up training and sensitization sessions for teachers, increasing the role of counselling services and setting up expert committees to review suicide cases in schools won’t do the trick. Mental health issues such as anxiety and depression need to be addressed without stigma in schools and colleges, and parents should be encouraged to inculcate and foster feelings of sensitivity toward their children. Educational institutions should start creating activities that act as counselling sessions -- morning assembly, teaching classes, etc. Systemic counselling is required to lower this student suicide rate. A mass movement is the correct approach to see radical change.
