Mar

17

The epidemic of student suicides in India

March 17, 2008 posted by indiatime |

Almost 6000 Indian students killed themselves in 2006. That’s almost a 35% jump from 2 years before. Board exams, various entrance tests, professional school tests, even high school monthly exams are creating a spate of suicides in India’s student population, an age group that one would normally associate with potential and promise.

The suicide notes from some of those who killed themselves had clues to what drove their tortured souls to take the final plunge:

..I will come back as a ghost and harass my teacher..

..I cannot face my parents and my friends after failing this exam..

Late in 2006, parliament member Naveen Jindal raised this question in India’s parliament, asking why there was a rising sucide trend amongst Indian students and how the government was tackling the issue. The answers he received from the minister of Human Resource Development open a window into an antiquated, retrogressive, and retarded thinking pattern that pervade and plague the way India’s education system tests its students’ performances. Here is what the Human Resource Minister said the central education board was doing to address the ‘examination-related stress’:

1. Launching of ‘Helpline’ before the commencement of examination

2. 15 minutes of additional time to students for reading the question paper

3. Simplification of question papers in some of the important subjects

4. sample question papers to familiarize students with the nature of questions

The clue here is ‘exam-related stress’ and the education board’s remedies are all ‘exam-related’. That exam-fixation mindset is exactly what is fueling student suicides. It is that same exam-fixation that is also fueling an expanding out-of-school tuition trade that has become a parallel industry to the education system, forcing students to spend their waking hours competing for a few coveted spots at good colleges and universities. Add to that the absurd policies of reservations and quotas based on castes and religions instead of economic backgrounds.

The current surge in student suicides is in large part a legacy of a failing education system, which, instead of making education a joyful experience, has turned it into a fiercely competitive firewalk that stresses the students out into taking the ultimate copout step, by quitting on everything, quitting on parents, quitting on friends and killing themselves. For students and teachers alike, the K-12 journey seems to have become a cheerless, oppressive and a melancholic experience.

I recently came across an inspiring talk by Prof. Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Professor, who also happens to be a terminal cancer patient. His ‘last lecture’ a few months ago, focused on ‘really achieving your childhood dreams’. He spoke of some of his childhood dreams such as being able to fly one day, and to be Captain Kirk of the Star Trek fleet. He also spoke about brick walls in our lives, the barriers that we come across in our daily lives and overcoming them.

India’s education system, by focusing too much on the exams, is creating those brick walls which are supposed to make our kids more competitive and smarter. But some of those brick walls are political, social and economic and some of the kids are unable to comprehend the complexities and unfairness of a system which comes with a baggage of legacy issues that have nothing to do with education or opportunities, but everything to do with election politics and vote banks.

It would be easy to dismiss student suicides as an isolated psychological problem faced by the weaker-minded amongst our
younger population. But 6000 student suicides in a year (and the 2007 number would be close to 7000 or more when it is published) also means 6000 devastated families and several thousand more friends who will carry those scars and that grief for a lifetime. That’s deep.


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27 Comments so far

  1. Purnima Toolsidass on April 18, 2008 7:48 am

    Pet therapy is used extensively in the advanced coutries, to reduce stress in children. I really fail to understand why the Indian psychologists and educatinoalists do not even mention it, leave alone using it!
    I also cannot understand the point in setting a syllebus that forces children to do selective studying. If the curriculum was reduced to essentials, the children would not only suffer less from stress, they would also retain what they learn and get thei birthright of having a hpappy childhood!

  2. meenukhare on October 22, 2008 10:37 pm

    FFFFF

  3. Les blogues de Parole » Bengalore – Capitale indienne du suicide des jeunes étudiantes et étudiants on February 15, 2009 4:29 pm

    [...] billet d’aujourd’hui est sur un sujet qui m’a marqué depuis mon arrivée en Inde: le suicide en Inde, surtout chez les étudiants. (ah oui, j’oubliais, je suis en voyage en Inde jusqu’au 22 février prochain…) [...]

  4. EducationWorldOnline » Blog Archive » When exams are a matter of life or death– Student suicide epidemic on May 11, 2009 5:48 pm

    [...] are cracking under all that pressure, and an alarming number are unable to cope. In 2006, an astounding 6,000 students died by suicide  in India, a 35 percent increase from 2004. Student suicide rates in Canada are hard to come by, [...]

  5. arjun nair on September 2, 2009 2:11 pm

    slay them all and burn the education system of india on slow benzene fire

  6. Yugank on January 6, 2010 10:45 pm

    hiiiii, i m student doin Engg.. i know dat wht is problem dat students hav take dis type of decision wid their life…. every students hav more and more pressure in exams…

  7. Bhupendra on January 8, 2010 4:56 am

    India’s children are competitive not because we go out with that thinking, but because its in our blood. Someone better than us means how much better we aren’t. Although I am no siding with the stress and pain that children go through, I find it important to show kids the meaning of both fun and education. You don’t want the children no to be intellegent but you don’t want them not to have fun.

  8. Alok Parande on January 12, 2010 5:48 pm

    Hello, We have started a new initiative on facebook, to stop student suicides.. It will be great if you can join in and support us in this.. Spread the word, Save a life..
    http://www.facebook.com/stop.student.suicides

  9. akshat goyal on January 14, 2010 4:04 pm

    the indian education system so rude.the students don’t familier with education system.their is no practical knowledge.students pass exam on craming and craming.if we change the education system till more i hope %age will decreases.

  10. manveer on January 20, 2010 8:52 am

    in sub main hamare education system ki khrabi hi samne ati hai..! so plz try to change it

  11. Arpen on January 23, 2010 5:45 pm

    Always say - “All is well”

  12. vishwa on January 27, 2010 2:47 pm

    why not create a helpline for children to complaint against whomsoever they are tortured by in any manner by any one. May it be their family member.
    And circulate the number in schools, colleges, t.v, buses, trains.

  13. yashwant gautamrao ambure on January 28, 2010 1:45 pm

    it is very shame full for the all young boys because a.p.j.abdul kalam look at vision 2020 depend on young jeneration.it was our duty to complete not for the suicide.

  14. kanika mehta on January 30, 2010 10:44 am

    The problem is not about failing of childhood dreams but its our traditional education system all want kids to be enginers doctors or equo but there is no value of designers photographers poets anchors dancers painters etc thats the reason why our dreams get hampered we get stressed of doing what we dont feel worthy doing . stress is fruitful in the field we want ourself to be in we students are not afraid to be failed but we are not failing actually its our parents who feel there failure when we fail which make us taking hard steps

  15. kishore on January 30, 2010 8:37 pm

    i think that the one who wanna suicide must share themselves by other & the decision is bullshit

  16. jd on February 1, 2010 8:36 pm

    this is true i know this kid and he is not ok what can you say about the person

  17. Arun on February 20, 2010 2:30 pm

    This thing can be control when the every individual can understand ????????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ????????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ,,,,, ??? ?? ?? ?? “EVEry thing is possible in this world coz the world itself say’s “I am possible” so make it possible man” ??? ??? ????????? ????? ?? ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ???? ????? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??? ???? ??. ?? ?? ?? ???? ??? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?? ????? ?? ??

    Plz contact me at arun@risecommunications.in if u really wants 2 help them coz I am started a project for schools but we need more money 2 execute the project. It’s a all India Project which I am planning

  18. vismay on February 23, 2010 6:36 pm

    change the bloody education system which responsible for all suicides

  19. Sharwari on March 14, 2010 12:34 am

    There is no child who does not deserve a happy and enlightening childhood , and no child who deserves the burden of a stifling, oppressive educational system. India can be proud of producing a hundred brilliant minds, but it cannot ignore the murky stain of the millions of minds it has injured and broken.

  20. JABBAR on March 15, 2010 5:51 am

    The teachers are killing students

  21. kiran sharma on March 30, 2010 8:17 pm

    urgent need for indepth counselling as he immediate measure to help thes tortured kids long term remedies need to be worked out why blame he system only each parent needs to sort out his priorities and handle his children can say much more but would advocate immediate steps of having counsellors for schools and for family counselling

  22. sharvari on April 5, 2010 7:58 pm

    have to change the running education system n have to chage a lot of expectations of parents from their child.

  23. yuvraj on May 4, 2010 12:44 am

    its the bloody system and bloody teachers n directors in colleges who discourage students everyday n then detain them on the basis of attendance . i also wanna commit suicide

  24. pravat on May 27, 2010 2:34 pm

    According to me in our country the parents of our student forcing to secure good marks in place of learn,that’s why our student comes under depression and commited suicide attend.

  25. bharatmehrta on July 1, 2010 5:07 pm

    require a social sang ram to create awareness in parents to realize capacity, weakness and qualities of their child.

  26. kamal lochan on July 30, 2010 12:24 pm

    Give us the subject what we want

    don’t give us pressure give as knowledge & education.

  27. vijal raval on August 4, 2010 7:52 pm

    I m agree with all the points

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