Student suicides: An end to dreams

The recent news of a 15-year-old student of a private school in Delhi committing suicide triggered widespread furore. While the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the petition demanding a CBI inquiry and the role of the teachers is also being investigated, it can be concluded unequivocally that the schooling system of the new era is failing millions of young students like her. She expressed her anguish through numerous posts on social media which can only be understood as a cry for help, characterised by extreme isolation and depression. She had an extraordinary command over Kathak beyond her academics, despite which she labelled herself a failure. This indicates a systemic problem of emphasising a single metric of success in terms of academic performance, which is further reinforced by parents and peers at school. It is perhaps the by-product of the flawed educational system of India where a student commits suicide every hour, with many more suffering from mental disorders. The ‘epidemic of suicides’ is reflected in centres like Kota which alienates young students from their individualistic talents.

However, to singularly pin the blame on teachers or the government would also be erroneous when the discourse should concentrate on societal functioning and parental mindset, besides macroscopic reforms. The parents in this case, for example, who have now demanded a CBI inquiry, had allegedly changed the name of their daughter so that she could get a front seat in class. Educational reforms, on the other hand, have been forwarded in most policy spectrums, including the Delhi government’s push for more than 1 lakh CCTV cameras in school classrooms. However, such measures may prove to be counter-productive as they reinstate the notions of “Helicopter Parenting” and lead to an increasing amount of policing by people in positions of authority, including parents or the administration at the cost of the holistic development of children. It may also push them further into a state of insecurity while exposing them to a host of problems associated with unwarranted and intrusive surveillance. Moreover, it seems like a problem-solution mismatch when the need of the hour is to observe and improve the study culture within schools. Violence, bullying and unwarranted aggression have seeped in deep within the student culture, in line with rising violent tendencies among adolescents observed on a global scale. This is a direct consequence of our dehumanising education modules.

Mechanisms to challenge the stressful ethos of the Indian education system have manifested in an effort to decrease the syllabus or the workload. However, doing so misconstrues the root of the problem which lies in the culture of pressured education and will continue regardless. This foundational culture also manifests in the high ambition among Indian professionals which has often been pedestalised and given a high aspirational value. This is further reinforced at schools or by families which then normalize the pressure, isolation and alienation students face. A tangible harm coming out of such measures, on the other hand, is a significantly reduced academic tenor and capacity which is also harmful to the larger socio-economic domain with a reduced capacity of skill development. For us to advance in this millennium, it is crucial to first advance the interests of the citizens of tomorrow, including their health, capabilities and surrounding family influences along with big reforms in the education system. 

The author is a student of Kamala Nehru College, Delhi University