Hours after Telangana Intermediate exam results, six girls among seven student suicides

More than 9.8 lakh students had appeared for the intermediate exam conducted in February-March.

At least seven students allegedly died by suicide within 30 hours of the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) releasing the results of the Intermediate Public Examination 2024 for first and second year on Wednesday.

Police officers said the incidents were reported from across the state. The first reported case was a 16-year-old from Tandur in Mancherial district. Local police said he had failed in four subjects in the first year, and that he hanged himself at his residence.

Apart from him, all others who died by suicide are girls aged 16 or 17 years who had failed in one or more exams. They took their lives by hanging, jumping into a community well, or drowning in a pond, police said. The areas they came from include Rajendranagar, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, Khammam, Mahabubabad, and Kollur.

This comes even as the state recorded the highest number of top scorers in the JEE Main exam this year. Out of the 56 candidates nationwide who scored a 100 percentile, 15 were from Telangana. For the past three years, the state has had the highest number of JEE Main toppers.

More than 9.8 lakh students had appeared for the intermediate exam conducted in February-March. The results were released two weeks in advance as compared to last year. While 61.06% students (2.87 lakh) passed in the first year  (equivalent of Class 11), 69.46% (3.22 lakh) passed the second-year (equivalent of Class 12) exams. Advanced supplementary exams for students who failed will start on May 24.

During the release of the results, principal secretary (education) Burra Venkatesham asked students to not be dejected over adverse results and to make use of the supplementary exams.  “Please remember that this is only an exam and not your whole life. Several IAS officers today have barely passed this exam with third division, many at top posts have failed, so please don’t worry about it,” he said.

Like previous years, the TSBIE has arranged counselors for students in all Junior Colleges to help them overcome exam stress. The Tele-MANAS (Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across the States) service is available throughout the year, especially during the annual and supplementary examinations and the period following the announcement of results. Students can contact a toll free number, 14416, to reach out to psychologists and psychiatrists for counseling and guidance.

At least 22 students had died by suicide across Telangana after the announcement of the intermediate results in 2019. The year’s exam and evaluation process was marred with allegations of inaccuracies.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, of the 12,522 student suicides in the country in 2022, Telangana accounted for under 5%. Maharashtra (13.5% or 1,764), Tamil Nadu (10.9% or 1,416), and Madhya Pradesh (10.3% or 1,340) were the top three states with the highest proportion of student suicides. Telangana ranked 11th among the 28 states, with 543 student suicides that year. Overall, Telangana witnessed close to 10,000 suicides across various categories in 2022.