As many as 513 students committed suicide all over the country in 2023, according to Aachol Foundation.

The organisation, initiated by students, came up with the information while revealing its study report on the issue at a virtual press conference on Saturday.

The study report said that among the deceased, 44.2% were school students, 27.2% were college students, 19.1% were university students and 9.4% were madrasa students.

The institutions that saw the highest number of student suicides were Dhaka University and Chittagong University, with five students from both these universities taking their own lives. The second highest number is from Jahangirnagar University, where three students died by suicide.

The survey showed that 26 cases of death by suicide were from national universities, 14 happened in private universities, seven were from science and technology universities, six from medical colleges, five from nursing institutes, two from polytechnic institutes, three from engineering universities, one case took place in an agricultural university, and 15 were from other institutions.

According to the report, the highest 66.5% of them were from the 13 to 19 years age group. Girls students accounted for 60.2% of all deceased.

Emotional distress emerged as the primary reason behind student suicides, contributing to over 32% (165 cases) of these tragedies while romantic relationships also caused many students to take their own lives.  Besides, academic pressure was the reason behind the suicide of 4.5 percent of students, with 3.5 percent taking their own lives due to failure in exams, and 1.8 percent doing so after failing to secure desired results in public exams.

Dhaka division saw the highest number of student suicides among the country’s eight divisions, with a total of 149 cases, followed Chattogram with 89.

In Rajshahi, the number was 77, while Khulna saw 64 cases of student suicides. Both Barishal and Rangpur divisions reported 43 cases each. Mymensingh had 36 student suicides, and Sylhet recorded the lowest number with 12 cases.

Tansen Rose, the president of the Aachol Foundation, which primarily works to make students aware of the importance of mental health, said that authorities must take the issue seriously to prevent the future of the country from destruction.

The foundation , a non-profit social organisation specialising in mental health awareness, made several proposals to reduce the number of suicides among students, including monthly mental health screenings, fostering mentor-mentee relationships for every student, training teachers on mental health related matters, breaking the taboo around mental health discussions, spreading awareness about suicide warning signs and bringing mental healthcare within the scope of insurance.

A similar survey conducted in the past revealed that there were 532 cases of suicide among students in 2022.