Of the 11 students who died by suicide, 10 were from government schools, and one was from a government-aided school.
Of the 11 students who died by suicide, 10 were students of government schools, and one was from a government-aided school. (Creative Commons)
As many as 11 students across Tamil Nadu have died by suicide since the Class X and Class XII exam results were declared on Monday, 20 June. Four of them were from the Villupuram district alone.
A total of 28 students have attempted suicide after the results, and are under treatment, Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TNCPCR) member K Durai Raj told South First.
According to the commission, of the 11 students who died by suicide, 10 were students of government schools, and one was from a government-aided school.
Of the 28 students who attempted suicide, 16 were from government schools and 12 from private schools.
All these incidents have occurred in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu.
In the Villupuram district, of the four students from classes X and XII who died by suicide, two were boys and two were girls.
According to Durai Raj, a member in charge of the Villupuram district from TNCPCR said a girl in Vadavetti village ended her life at her grandmother’s house by hanging.
Another student, 17-year-old Mohanraj, used a nylon rope to hang himself in his house when his parents were away.
Officials told South First that he failed Mathematics.
A 17-year-old girl named Roobasri, from Kollakottai in the Tirupattur district, ended her life by jumping into a well.
According to local officials, the girl complained to her parents days before the result that she didn’t do well in the exams. She died by suicide one day before the result.
It turned out she had passed the Class XII exams with 70 percent marks.
“Had the girl waited for a few days, she would have been alive,” state School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh told reporters.
Reacting to the deaths of these students, the minister said the students must not take the result hard as they have another chance to pass the subjects they initially failed.
“Please get in touch with 1098 if you are scared of the result and need counsel to handle the situation,” he advised the students.
He also said the state government was stressing the importance of childcare, besides asking parents not to pressure their children and compare them with others.
“Please self-assess and write the exam with confidence,” he reiterated.
Reacting to the incidents, educationist Gajendra Babu told South First that the government failed to care about students’ lives.
“It is the collective failure of the government. It shows the inability of the government to prevent the suicides of students. Students should have been approached academically and not administratively by the government,” said Babu.
Schools were closed for two years, and reopened in September last year for classes X and XII. However, in three months, the government announced a model exam for them, which was unacceptable, said Babu.
The government made the students write their exams in three months, which is against the regular practice, he added, claiming that it lacked a humane approach toward students.
“Many students from the rural pockets would have gone out to help their families during the lockdown, and many suffered due to their family’s economic situation. But the government doesn’t seem to have bothered about this. It could have averted these incidents if it had cared to approach the students humanely,” Babu said.
Psychologists told South First that the students’ mental health during lockdown had changed.
Suicides are preventable, and help is one step away.
For Tamil Nadu, those seeking help may contact the state helpline number 104. Students may also call 1098 for assistance.
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