Today I read another horror story of a student committing suicide in India. This must be 10th case that I have heard or read in last 30 days. It seems to be a common event in India. I have not run the statistics but I can say that if guns are killing innocent kids in US, then education is killing innocent students in India.
What drives these actions? How disturbing is the student who commits such an action? What is bothering him/her? I attribute the actions to 3 basic root causes.
- Society
- Parents
- Competition
Although all 3 are interlinked, they individually fuel the system that drives the students to fall victim.
Society:
As a kid, I always heard only 2 professions; doctor and engineer. What is the big deal with these 2 professions? I know of many doctors who struggle to practice while engineering field has mocked itself after the IT boom. I am an Industrial Engineer who is working in a financial field and I know that there are several who do the same.
There is a natural segregation in the education system as well. If you think that caste system has corroded the system in India, then think about how the education system has divided the mass. For example, MBAs, MDs, IAS officers and few other Masters professional are the elite class of today. Engineers, doctors and CAs fall below the elite class. The B.Coms, B.A.s and other bachelor degrees are left behind in the rat race for supremacy.
I remember that after my 10th grade results, it was a clear prioritized list; try for Science then Commerce and then Arts. In a way, the sequence is still maintained barring few who rebel and make a career in whatever they choose. However, if you ask the society to choose for you then the list is very clear.
Parents:
If you thought that parents should take care to ensure that the kids don’t hurt themselves, then you will be wrong. Today, the parents are more hyper about their kid’s exam than the kid itself. I have seen parents get nervous breakdown when their kid under performs. And please understand that “underperform” is a relative term over here. The kid might be good but is not as good as another kid in your colony or family. I have seen parents compare and even give example of other kids. How will a kid feel when his/ her parents are praising someone else? Is it right to compare siblings?
Parents are nowadays seeking help of expensive tuition. A first grader is working more than 40 hours a week (probably more than the parents). A daily schedule of a primary school kid begins with school, then tuition, homework and finally with some extra curricular activity than is deemed “cool” in the society. The kid doesn’t have time to be kid.
The advertisement and marketing business is not falling behind as well. They are coming up with products that will enhance your memory or make you more active at school. Once my mom was asked what she feeds me during the exams. This is one of the most hilarious questions that I have ever heard. Of course, my mom truthfully answered “dal, bhaat (rice), bhaaji (veggies), poli (bread)”. The point is the extent to which parents struggle to make their kids survive the stiff competition.
Competition:
It is a rat race. The bar keeps on rising. In 1993 when I completed my 10th, getting 85% in SSC was considered good enough. Today, my nephews and nieces cannot think of anything below 90% to catch up with the average. They will work crazy hours, spent sleepless nights, read thousands of pages, attend several tuition. All this and more only to pass a school exam that will take them to a higher grade. The competition becomes stiffer as you move up the grade. The backpack that weighed 10 pounds in first grade will weigh 30 pounds in fifth grade. With this rate I can assure that if the student cannot make it in the highly competitive society as a professional, then he surely will become a successful coolie.
Special classes conducted by schools show the desperation of schools to outperform the competition. Just like students who are pawns in this competition, the schools too strive hard to maintain the top position. The selection criteria to get into school are stiff as well. My brother and sister-in-law were asked to produce their degree documents for their kid’s admission. The concept was to judge the kid’s intelligence based on his parent’s education. Such is the competition to be at the top.
Finally, after all the struggle of getting into a good school, attending the best tuition and eating the most nutritious food, the student can fail. This failure is taken as a disgrace for the student, his parents, his school and everyone related. The student knows it all but is too young to bare the pressure. Imagine a 12 year old who failed a test facing his parents. He doesn’t have the guts to withstand that storm; a storm that is created by his parents themselves and will bring shame to his parents. Scared of the outcome and being a novice in this cruel society, the student pays the ultimate price.
Society, parents and competition are just fuel to the ultimate fire. This fire of educational excellence has been there for years. But recently the game has reached another level. The number of suicides has increased over period. The educational pressure is not only taking away the childhood from these kids but sometimes is also taking away their lives. Where will it stop? How will it stop?
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