India's 'killer exams' spark heated debate
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-26 06:24

NEW DELHI: Swati, 18, was a brilliant pupil but still she feared she had failed her school-leaving exams. She hanged herself hours before the results were released. She had in fact passed.

Aruna, 17, killed herself by drinking pesticide after learning she had flunked.

Horrifying stories such as these are regularly published in the Indian media, while studies show more and more teenagers are suffering depression or contemplating suicide.

In New Delhi, an inquiry into 150 educational facilities by mental health group VIMHANS showed that 40 per cent of pupils feel overwhelmed by exams.

A separate study by non-governmental organization Sahyog showed that 57 per cent of the 850 teenagers they questioned suffered from depression and 9 per cent attempted suicide last year.

The trend began about 10 years ago but has accelerated in the past five years, especially among the middle classes, according to Sandeep Vohra, psychiatrist at Delhi's Apollo Hospital.

"It's linked to the changes in society, liberalization, mass consumerism, stress to achieve everything instantly," he said.

Parents, wishing for their children the kind of glamorous life depicted in the media that they themselves did not have, are putting pressure on their offspring, which is being reinforced by teachers.

"From the age of two, children are (subjected to) competition. The child is estimated by his school marks: if he is good at school, he is a good child, if not he is the failure of the family," said Vohra.

The cause of the nightmares is the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the school-leaving certificate that can decide one's entire future career prospects.

Access to India's more prestigious universities, "which open doors to an easier life in the country of more than a billion people" demands a pass rate of 90 to 100 per cent.

The India Today daily recently highlighted the trend towards depression and suicide in a special report entitled "Killer exams." Students responded by saying they were grateful that at least someone was concerned about the problem.

"Parental anxiety, peer pressure, extreme fear and constant tension have made our lives miserable. We have to face a lot of humiliation if we don't perform well," said 12th-grader Mythreyi. But for parents dreaming of seeing their children becoming economists, lawyers, doctors or engineers, it's a question of climbing up the social ladder.

(China Daily 07/26/2005 page7)

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