NEET row, coaching stress to feature in Supreme Court panel final report on student suicides

New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed National Task Force on student mental health is expected to flag competitive entrance examinations, including the recent NEET controversy, coaching pressure, frequent curriculum changes and structural inequalities as major contributors to student distress, according to sources familiar with the panel's deliberations.

The task force, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd) S Ravindra Bhat, was constituted in March 2025 to examine the rising incidence of student suicides in higher educational institutions and recommend preventive measures.

While its mandate is confined to higher education, the panel is said to have concluded that many sources of stress originate much earlier, during school education and the highly competitive entrance examination process.

The panel submitted its interim report on June 8, in which it argued that student suicides in India cannot be understood only as a mental health issue.

According to a person associated with the exercise, the final report is expected to be submitted in October, moves away from viewing student suicides solely through the lens of mental illness and instead treats them as the outcome of multiple structural pressures.

The panel is learnt to have examined how frequent changes in curriculum, teaching methods, and education policies can add to anxiety among students. Officials involved in the exercise said sudden shifts in school curricula, modifications in examination patterns and changing academic requirements often leave students struggling to adapt before they even enter universities. (ANI)

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