Marks alone cannot protect a child. Resilience can

This article is authored by Arpan Tulsyan, senior fellow, Centre for New Economic Diplomacy, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

This November has witnessed yet another wave of student suicides across the country. They are no longer confined to high-pressure medical colleges or coaching hubs like Kota. Reports have trickled in from nearly every region: A 17-year-old boy in Rewa, a 19-year-old girl from Indore, a 14-year-old boy in a tribal hostel in Maharashtra, and even a fourth-grade student in Delhi. Between 2013 and 2023 (the latest year for which National Crime Records Bureau data is available), student suicides in India have risen by an alarming 65%.

Marks (StockPic)

A 2022 survey by the NCERT had noted that 81% of Indian students experienced acute anxiety due to studies, examinations, and results, whereas 45% had negative body image. This trend worsened from middle (grades 6–8) to secondary levels (grades 9–12). Nationwide, 45% children reported feeling tired and low on energy, 34% felt tearful, 27% felt lonely two to three times a week, and 14% felt extreme emotions.

The 2024-25 Economic Survey acknowledged that every dollar spent on students’ social-emotional learning gives a long-term economic return of $ 11, with outcomes covering mental health, education, and employability. Yet, with a total outlay of ₹1,314 crore (approx. $ 158 million), mental health receives just over 1% of the health budget and about 0.003% of the total Union government budget. India currently has only 9,000 psychiatrists; about 0.75 per 100,000 population; significantly below the WHO’s recommendation. Student suicides in particular, are directly related to exam-centric education and fear of failure, coupled with lack of avenues to open up about stress or depression, and inadequate intervention in allegations of harassment or bullying in educational institutions.

Although mental health initiatives in India’s educational ecosystem are growing: helplines, counselling under Manodarpan; screening, referral and health education as part of Ayushman Bharat school health and teacher training and peer programmes under SIMHA (School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy). Yet their implementation remains early-stage, fraught with resource gaps and inconsistent follow-up. It is time to recognise student mental health as a national priority, focusing on preventive programmes and scaling them with quality, equity, and contextual relevance.

First, we need to stop attributing them as individual inability to cope with ‘pressure’ or ‘stress’; and recognise them as system failure. Our country has built an education system that is efficient at producing degrees and toppers, but not with resilience. We teach children how to read fast, write neat and learn better, but rarely focus on emotional literacy i.e. how to regulate emotions, ask for help, fail safely or recover from setbacks.

Second, these efforts should not be limited to conducting periodic sessions or workshops, but must be institutionalised. Integrated resilience building should start from pre-school, and anganwadi workers should be trained to recognise and respond to emotional and behavioural problems. This also requires development of resources (books, material, activities) on emotional literacy, personal safety, and coping with violence, loss or separation for very young children in an age-appropriate manner.

Third, systematic capacity building of teachers and parents is urgent. Teachers should be given a basic understanding of child psychology through trainings, and they should be able to reflect and adopt responsive classroom behaviour, while being able to identify children’s deteriorating mental health. Parents should be on-boarded through workshops on adolescent mental health, guidance on healthy expectations, training on empathetic communication and directions on when and how to seek help.

Fourth, mental health indicators such as student well-being scores, availability of support services, and emotional safety should be integrated in existing school evaluation systems to drive accountability. Fifth, institutes must tackle the stigma around seeking mental health support through open dialogues, peer-led initiatives, and mental health clubs that create safe spaces for students to share their feelings. Sustained engagement with parents and local communities is also critical to build a network of support around students. Sixth, a holistic and student-centred approach, which includes flexible assessments, formative feedback, and promotion of creativity, sports, and life skills alongside academics can prevent burnout. For this, the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047 should target four key priorities:

• A full-time counsellor for every secondary school
• Every teacher in the country trained in first identification and response to mental health
• Confidential student-led complaint systems to report bullying, harassment or emotional distress and
• Regular, structured socio-emotional learning built into the timetable through weekly sessions.

The true purpose of education is not to prepare children merely for exams, but to prepare them for life. Life demands adaptability, resilience, grit, empathy, courage, and the ability to deal with failures or seek help. If India wants to stop reading about student suicides every week, we must move beyond band-aid solutions and build a system where education prepares children for real life’s tests. This shift is now urgent, and non-negotiable.

This article is authored by Arpan Tulsyan, senior fellow, Centre for New Economic Diplomacy, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.