Kota Suicides: Black hole of education killing children
Photo credit twitter Deepak Sharma
By Bhavna Pant
New Delhi, February 18: Is the ‘education’ that has ‘evolved’ now ravaging many a lives and proving to be a cruel grind for students? In the recent decades, it has done more to chain the young hearts and minds rather than freeing them. The spate of reports on student suicides across the states, at least, point to the rising stress turning out to be fatal for the young and impressionable.
Beginning of the childhood is called the most beautiful phase of a person’s life — carefree, filled with fun and joy. Entire life, the people look back and get nostalgic remembering their schooling and college years feeling “koi lota de mere beite huye din”. They often draw energy and sustenance from the days spent in their alma mater as and when they find themselves in the cross-roads of their lives.
Gradually things are changing and now the picture is not so rosy. Students are battling with extreme stress, anxiety and depression. Words, which, some decades ago, were completely out of “childhood syllabus”.
Education system, society, parents, teachers, they are all to be blamed for rampaging innocent minds who need very sensitive or mature handling. Entire education system is mainly focusing on theoretical knowledge.
The current marks-driven education system is generally based upon memory — whosoever memorizes the most information is successful. Roughly 40-50 kids of the same age are stuffed into a classroom and it is expected from them that they all understand the subject with equal ability. Their differences in the backgrounds, mind, choice, and interest are completely ignored. Very early they get the titles — bad, dolt, dull, stupid, brainless from their teachers and at time from parents too.
Parental role in a student’s life has significantly changed. Earlier students were more independent in choosing their subjects and careers. Now very early in a student’s life parents decide what he /she will choose as a career without realising whether the child has an aptitude for science or mathematics or not ? Most of the parents dream that their children crack IIT, NEET or UPSE. Basically, kids are living up their parents dream.
Lack of counselling and proper guidance in their academic career add to the increasing woes of the students who are already under the aspirational pressure of their parents. Neither parents nor teachers bother to learn a child’s strength or inclinations and encourage them to take up such activities that can enhance their talent.
Letting a child be what he/she is while at the same time monitoring and channeling their strength and talents is what school are supposed to do or are meant for. Right-empathetic guidance can enhance their personality and talent but this is not happening. Pressure from both the sides — parents, education system — is very high on children to get good marks and do well in their studies.
Those who are good in studies or able to handle the pressure without any damage are lucky ones otherwise most of children are under psychological pressure. Nowadays, physiatrists are busy handling new kind of patients in bulk- the stressed and depressed ‘students’.
Many unfortunate students who do not have the advantage of counselling or help from parents go for extreme and commit suicides. And there numbers are increasing.
Kota, the hub of coaching for IIT and AIIMS, which was once famous for its students getting top ranks in IIT and AIIMS, has been in the news for numbers of suicides by young students. The ‘business of education’ has twisted and torned the very idea of coaching. Some year back coaching institutes in Kota were arranging dummy schools. On paper students are enrolled in a government recognized school but in practice they were attending coaching classes instead of regular schools.
Nearly 130 odd coaching institutes are functioning in Kota, but there is no system of screening or entrance test – fees get you the admission. Many of their students don’t even have an aptitude for science and mathematics.
Away from a secure home environment to sudden responsibility to handle day today life, syllabus and the high parental pressures proves too much for the student who is not in sync with the academic choice forced on him. IIT and AIIMS coaching need a lots of finance. This financial burden on parents also gives a kind of guilt to a child if he/she doesn’t do well in exams.
Sitting long-distance, parents don’t understand what kind of pressure their ward is going through or they choose to ignore, thinking “all will be good in the end”. Unmindful of the helplessness and the trauma faced by their ‘coaching-caged’ child, parents just try to push them to get more and more marks in exams.
Coaching institutes are only concerned about “potential students” who can give name and fame to them and thereon draw more wards from across the country. Those running these coaching institutes segregate the “best” from the “average” students. Many students who had attended these classes accuse these institutes of a clear bias against the ‘non-creamy’ entrants.
“Only best students get the best of professors and attention others are just money making tools for them. The ‘average deer students’ forced into the ‘coaching dens’ with ‘top-ranking tigers’ tend to develop suicide tendencies. Parent’s high hopes, grilling schedule for intense study, lack of proper counselling, new and non-sympathetic environment, are some of the key reasons for growing mental problems like stress , depression and finally suicide among students.
Great numbers of suicides have been witnessed by students in Kota till date and the number is increasing. Ankush Anand, one the three students, who committed suicide in Kota was heard “crying in his room past midnight” and was also skipping classes but no one apparently asked him what was the problem.
This rat race has made even other students non-empathetic towards their fellow students. They consider each other competitor not friend or classmates!! After numerous suicides cases by students, state government has taken some action but only time will tell how beneficial are they?
Parents need to change their attitude of “my way or highway” attitude towards their children. Their intention must be good but forcing “your dreams on them” could, always be, counterproductive. Every parent needs to remember that a child is his own person not necessarily an extension or a reflection of a mother or a father. Let the child choose his /her career decisions and be himself or herself.
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