India serves as the highest source of death by suicides globally, with 139,500 people dying from suicide just in 2019, according to data from the National Crimes Register Bureau (NCRB). The data also reveals that at least one student commits suicide every day, and from 1995 to 2019, India has lost more than 170,000 students to suicide. This terrifying number seems to be getting worse with every passing year, painting a bleak picture of India’s education system.

On September 15, a 17-year-old girl, the daughter of daily wage workers and who had dreams of attending medical school in Tamil Nadu aspirant, allegedly killed herself over fears of not being able to pass a crucial entrance exam to join a medical school. Alarmingly, it is the third such death in less than a week, following the suicide of an 18-year-old girl and 19-year-old student Dhanush, both of whom died over the exact same fears of clearing NEET.

The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) is the qualifying test for medical and dental programmes in India, and since the exam was introduced in Tamil Nadu in 2017, more than 15 medical aspirants have died by suicide in the state, due to crippling fear of failure. These are certainly not isolated cases. In April 2019, 19 students in Telangana committed suicide in just one week after the intermediate exam results were announced. Dread of failing or faring poorly in exams are closing doors not only to students’ education, but to their lives.