98 suicides; 33,979 dropouts from central institutions in 5 years: Education Ministry

NEW DELHI: Ninety-eight students have died by suicide since 2018 across all central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) , Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes Science Education and Research (IISER), education ministry told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The largest number of suicides were reported from the premier engineering institutions, the IITs which also saw a very high number of dropouts – 8,139. According to the parliament response, the dropouts were from postgraduate or research programmes.

Of the students who died by suicide, 28 were from the Other Backward Classes, nine from the Scheduled Castes, three from Scheduled Tribes and four from minority communities.

Thirty-nine of the suicides were at the IITs with the second highest number, 25, at central universities. However, several of the central universities have much larger student populations than the IITs.

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Suicide rates down during covid

In 2018, a total if 21 students died by suicide across institutes with eight students each in IITs and central universities. In 2019, IITs again saw highest number of student suicides, along with NITs. A total of 19 students died by suicide that year.

The suicide rates dropped during the covid pandemic years, 2020 and 2021, as campuses were closed and students sent home. However, the numbers surged again once institutions reopened for in-person teaching in 2022. That year, 24 students died by suicide with the IITs once again registering the highest numbers.

Student suicides over 2018-2023

In 2023 alone there have been 20 suicides, last counted on July 26.

The question was asked by V Sivadasan, MP from Kerala from Communist Party of India.

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Student suicide: ST, SC, OBC

In another written response by Sarkar to a question asked by Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP’s member of parliament from Bihar, a total of nine Dalit, three tribal, four minority and 28 OBC – highest amongst all – have died by suicide since 2018.

IITs saw the highest number of suicides of students from historically-marginalised backgrounds, followed by NITs with 13 and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) with seven. The Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPA) and IISERs have had two each over the past five years.

Student suicides by caste, community (2019-2023)

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IIT, NIT: Student dropouts

The highest number of dropouts since 2019 was from central universities (17,454), followed by the IITs with 8,139 .

The group with the maximum dropouts are the OBCs with 4,596 dropping out of central universities; 2,066 of IITs and 1,329 of NITs. A total of 8,602 OBC students have dropped out since 2019. Among Dalits, this number stood at 4,823 with most – 2,424 – dropping out of central universities. That said, universities have far more students enrolled than any of the other types of institutions.

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Dropouts by caste, community (2019-2023)

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The written response said: “The maximum number of dropouts is in postgraduate and PhD programmes. The main reasons are offers for placement in Public Sector Enterprises and personal preference for better opportunities elsewhere. The drop out in Undergraduate programmes is attributed to withdrawal due to wrong choices filled, poor performance and personal and medical reasons.”

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