When academic failure weighs heavily on young minds

A student, reportedly denied permission to appear for the HSSC examination on the grounds of inadequate preparation, is believed to have slipped into depression, denial and withdrawal. Feelings of guilt, shame, frustration and intense societal pressure may have driven her to take the drastic step of ending her life. When a young life is abruptly lost for no valid or justified reason, the loss is borne not only by the family, but also by society and the nation at large. Life is priceless, and nothing should ever be placed above it.

Academic pressure

The suicidal death has raised questions in the public mind, whether such academic pressure is actually needed for survival of the educational institutes, or to safeguard their pride and prestige. The locals from Vasco look at the issue with different perspectives. The school, it is alleged that, was more focused on scoring a 100 % result in this academic year, and if this particular student did not make it to pass or to score required percentile, the goal would have been a failure.

The parents or the student, as is claimed, were asked to sign some papers. What was in these papers? Was it a self-declaration that their ward or the student herself was unfit to answer the exam? If so, what was the reason or excuse that was mentioned in these papers? Was it something that would declare the student as mentally disturbed? The police investigations are on, and the truth, hopefully, comes out soon. Whatever the truth be, one cannot deny the fact that a young life is gone forever.

Worried parents

“The student suicides are a serious issue in Goa. As parents, we are worried about their mental and physical safety in school and college complexes. Making students feel ashamed in front of peers is no less than a crime, as it can lead to deep psychological impact on the student mind. And corporal punishments, we thought, did not exist or are no longer administered in modern schools, but the newspapers are full of scary reports of teachers punishing students physically and injuring them harshly,” maintains Gauri Gaude (name changed), a mother of two teenagers – one in class 9 and the other in class 11.

The incidents of teachers punishing students are not a thing in history, at least in schools and higher secondary schools in Goa, as is seen in the past few years. “It was always there in our times, and even today, it exists. Every educational institute has one or two teachers who take out their own anger and frustration on students. But, these things never caught the attention of the media in the earlier times. The management also used to turn a blind eye towards this issue. However, today, due to parental awareness and social media, these issues of punishment have surfaced,” says Gaude.

Highest percentile

Every person is unique, and the talent or skills of one cannot be compared with the other. In the blind game of scoring highest percentile, many parents pressurise their children to always stay ahead of other students. Even schools and colleges have competitions to get 100 % results year after year. These schools have a strict selection process, and only creamy students are absorbed and groomed. This helps the school to maintain the 100 % pass outs tag, and thus create hype among the aspiring parents to admit their children in these so-called prestigious schools. “But such die-hard competition is detrimental to the natural blossoming of the child’s personality,” feels an educationist in Goa.

Counselor shortfall

Arguments that students can approach counselors to resolve their emotional, psychological or other problems does not hold much sense, as many educational institutes still do not have a counselor, though it is mandatory to have one. “Also, a single counselor dealing with hundreds of students is just not enough. The counselor needs enough time to know and understand the students’ mental status and identify the ones who need extra attention and counseling,” points out a retired psychology professor, who admits that it was next to impossible to converse with each student on a daily basis or to notice changes in their behaviour and emotional ups and downs.

Disturbed atmosphere

It also happens that many times students come from disturbed families, and require additional attention and special treatment at school or college. The disturbed atmosphere, strained relationships between the parents or cases of divorce and single parenthoods also are issues that make the students to remain inattentive at school. They lag behind in studies, remain introverted, feel ashamed and guilty and do not share these emotions with anyone. The suppressed emotions need a vent, but if it turns into a drastic decision like ending one's life, it is a serious issue and needs a delicate handling.

“Anger and frustration is a form of vent. The whistle blows when the steam gets too much. Most of the anger issues come from past experiences and resentments. One has to learn to manage anger, be it the parent, student or teacher,” suggests Mita Arora, counseling psychologist Mita Arora from Antarman Centre for Psychological Wellbeing in Panaji.

Dr Meenacshi Martins, a practicing psychiatrist in Goa admits to have come across few cases where teachers seek help from psychiatrists or counselors to control their anger in class, and there are students too, who visited with complaints of abuse from such teachers.

For a society to run smoothly, the factors that make it, should not rub against each other. The more the friction is, it will give birth to heightened tension and stress. Academic excellence is important, no doubt, but should it be valued above everything, even life, is the question that one should ask himself before aiming for distinctions and 100% results.