Why Are Student Suicides On A Rise? The Answer May Lie In Unrealistic Academic Standards
TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE
Recently, board results were declared in India. The sad news is that at least 20 students have died by suicide in Telangana itself possibly due to poor performance. Similar incidents were reported from other states also.
Apart from the board results, every year we come across the news of students committing suicide because of their failure in competitive entrance tests like the IIT-JEE. Such news repeats itself every year, only the statistics change. Such incidents pass largely without significant emphasis or prominence in public discourse. It also does not occupy the central stage in public debates and policy making.
In our society, student suicide, housewives’ suicide, etc. gets sidelined over political issues and is not taken seriously. Whereas farmer suicides take precedence in news reporting owing to their political nature (farmers are a major voting section during election season). Political will in India is informed by electoral logic and this population lot (farmers) is significant for the electoral schema of any political party. Also, public perception exists that farmers’ suicides are the most common form of the malady. It is partly due to media’s emphasis on this vulnerable group as it exposes the inaction of political class and also because it resonates with the livelihood issues of larger section of our population. However, in this case also, suicide as an issue in itself gets neglected.
It perpetuates a narrative that reduces suicide to a manifestation of economic distress. This portrayal fails to sufficiently explain the cause and spread of suicide and does not even address the all important questions of its prevention. Take the example of Rohit Vemula. Although the case galvanised a political wave, the public outburst and widespread media attention were simply against the rampant discrimination against lower-caste Dalits. It couldn’t bring the core issue of suicide to the fore and was sidelined in the agenda of electoral politics.
Let us concentrate on the issue of student suicides (especially those in Class 10 and 12). Here, I see the failure of India’s education system. Every year, we see the number of high-scorers at the school level skyrocketing. It’s good to be thrilled over these incredible scorecards, but I wonder if it really gives the true picture of students’ abilities. I don’t know how written words can be perfect ones, especially when it includes subjects like arts, sciences, and the languages. When the same students start preparing for competitive exams, their abilities receive a reality check and often they can’t tolerate this.
Consider the example of Kota, which is considered to be the coaching capital of India but is gradually becoming a suicidal hotspot for students. Based upon almost-perfect scores, parents burden their kids with unrealistic goals and heap unrealistic praise onto them. Rather than boosting their self-esteem, it gives a false sense of self. It puts pressure on kids and can lead to crippling fear of failure or rejection.
Unable to cope with failure and being apprehensive about letting their family down, a number of students resort to end their lives. It exposes the emotional cost at which we are making our students chase the family’s expectations beyond their abilities. Also, kids are pampered a lot nowadays. The perception that being unhappy is an abnormal condition creates a lot of inner turmoil. They don’t know how to confront emotions like sadness, frustration, guilt, disappointment, etc. and hence, are not able to comprehend that facing such emotions is a part of learning life skills.
Today’s generation has immersed themselves in the fascinations of the digital world (smart phones and social media). It lets them escape uncomfortable emotions like boredom, loneliness, and sadness. Apart from avoiding discomfort, it also takes away the opportunities to develop mental strength, and coping skills which are needed to handle everyday challenges are never gained.
Take the example of social media. Rather than bonding with real people, kids turn to this virtual world of social media. Although it gives the breadth of friendship on the social network, it does not provide the same depth of intimacy as in the real bonding and instead, a false sense of connection.
Coming back to Kota, there is another psychological aspect to be considered. When these students arrive in the city, they suddenly find themselves amid unknown people and devoid of emotional or moral support from parents and the peer students. In addition to the feeling of being stressed and pressurized, it’s also difficult for them to strike a close bond of friendship when lakhs of them are competing against each other.
Media reporting may also a contributing factor in making suicide as a socially and ethically justifiable way (in the students’ mind) to cope with failure. The depiction of suicide in media can often be irresponsible and inappropriate. This includes detailed descriptions of suicidal acts like reporting unusual methods of suicide, showing pictures or information about the method used, covering celebrity suicides through sensational/dramatic headlines, etc. It normalizes suicide as an acceptable coping medium to emotional crisis, leading to imitative suicidal behaviours.
When one is contemplating suicide, a lack of solace or adequate support from families or social institutions may internsify whatever the person is going through. It is saddening to me that this happens more often than not.
Suicide is a complex issue where socio-economic, cultural, familial and psychological causes are intertwined. It asks for a multi-sectoral action and collective efforts from all stakeholders including immediate family members, public health planners, policymakers, administration and NGOs. The administration should issue guidelines to schools, coaching institutes, etc. such as weekly off to students, fee refunds (in case they want to withdraw from their current course after realizing their true potential/career option), facilitating recreational activities (sessions on yoga, meditation and spiritualism can provide mental equilibrium), etc.
There is also a need for regular monitoring to ensure strict compliance. The panacea for this also lies in raising awareness about mental health and life skills education and these topics should be incorporated into the school curriculum. If children are not aware of these disorders in their formative years (when they are likely to experience more stress and emotional turmoil), how can they be able to cope with it or seek help? The emphasis should also be on the need for better parenting during emotional crises. Humiliations meted out (or just a thought of it) in schools or in social circles are also among the other factors because of which self-esteem decreases.
Educational institutions should recruit trained counsellors and mental-health professionals who can assist students at the onset of emotional and mental problems so they do not escalate into full-fledged diagnoses. Recently, an IAS officer shared his report card on Facebook and advised kids against resorting to suicide. It sends a strong message that parents/kids should not get trapped in this number game of marks and should comprehend the fact that marks are just a passing phase and not the final stamp over anybody’s calibre. There are more meaningful things to aim for and students should not get disheartened or lose hope, because failures are often the stepping stones to success.
Sudhakar Rao missed the deadline. He got back half an hour after the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education released the results at around 5.30 pm. His daughter, Kaveti Lasya, 17, had failed one of her subjects, Mathematics 2B, and she felt devastated.
Sudhakar Rao consoled her, suggesting that she could take a supplementary exam to clear the subject without falling behind a year. Lasya agreed. She went to her room while her father got busy online looking up how to apply for the supplementary exam.
At around 6.30 pm, the family found Lasya hanging from the ceiling of her room.
Not long after, nearly 10 km away in Sri Nagar Colony, Dharma Ram, 17, jumped from the sixth-floor balcony of his building. Ram, who studied at Narayana College in Ameerpet, had also failed Mathematics 2B. “He was the only one in his class to have cleared the JEE test with 85%,” said his sister Mahitha Paturu. “He could not accept that he had failed in this exam.”
Of the 9.74 lakh students who appeared for Telangana’s intermediate exams for Classes XI and XII, 3.28 lakh failed this year. Fifty thousand candidates, Ram and Lasya among them, failed only mathamatics
The results triggered a spate of suicides. At least six students killed themselves the evening the results were announced. Within ten days, the toll climbed to 23.
The main reason the exam become a matter of life and death for so many students is that scores in the intermediate exams get a 25% weightage in the Engineering Agricultural and Medical Common Entrance Test, or EAMCET, students, parents and education experts told Scroll.in. This is the test that determines admission to medical, agricultural and engineering colleges in Telangana.
In addition, tests like EAMCET and JEE, the national exam for admission to IITs and engineering colleges, have come to be the marker of academic achievement.
“The idea that we have to aspire only for engineering or medicine is sown into our minds right from high school,” said a cousin of Lasya’s who asked not to be identified. “Any other course is looked down upon. We are basically told that these are the only two options.”
This obsession with medicine and engineering has been fueled, and exploited, by profit-driven private colleges. Their big draw is that they offer to prepare students for the intermediate exams and entrance tests simultaneously.
“There are at least 2,203 private intermediate colleges in the state and only 404 government colleges,” said Madhusudhan Reddy, president of the Government Junior College Lecturers’ Association.
Hard-driving atmosphere
Institutions run by the Sri Chaitanya and the Narayana groups are among the most sought-after. The Sri Chaitanya group’s reputation for preparing students for entrance exams persuaded Sudhakar Rao to admit his daughter to the Sri Chaitanya College in Secunderabad to study Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, paying Rs 1.40 lakh a year in fees. Aside from teaching her the required intermediate courses, the college also prepared Lasya to take EAMCET and the JEE.
“We did not want to burden her by sending her to tuition classes,” said Sudhakar Rao. “So we chose a semi-residential college that offered regular classes and training for entrance exams under one roof.”
For two years, Lasya had to keep a 12-hour schedule. She took practice exams every Saturday and Monday.
“They are given multiple choice questions to answer like in entrance exams for IITs or EAMCET,” said Sudhakar Rao. “Results are sent via SMS to each student’s parents and displayed on the college’s noticeboards. They teach the regular courses only at the fag end of the academic year.”
In the intermediate exams conducted by the state board, though, students are required to write detailed answers. Since there is little time to prepare for this, the colleges encourage rote learning. But this strategy does not work for Mathematics, Lasya’s cousin said.
“Every student who enters intermediate college has to go through this grind,” she added. “Those two years are the worst of our lives.”
Rising suicides