They Don’t Need No Rat Race
An IAS hopeful who committed suicide over what was initially believed to be an erroneous declaration of results by the UPSC, is a grim reminder to various educational boards and universities to be extra vigilant in matters of declaration of results. Suicide by a member of a family can have serious ramifications, disorienting lives. Luckily for UPSC, subsequent news reports indicated that no such goof-up occurred, though initially it was suggested that there was some mix up in the candidate’s name and seat number which prompted the suicide. The truth however is that the victim, V Y Manjunath, 24, reportedly fabricated the story of a goof-up to hopefully extricate himself from family pressure to excel.
Manjunath’s story ought to serve as a warning bell to examiners to be prompt and responsive to the plea from disappointed students seeking a clarification, even clarity in their results. It would also be necessary to ensure that examiners and clerks involved in putting together the marks and corresponding names realize that the career and lives of students are literally in their hands and therefore the need to handle each and every individual case with caution. There’s also the need to fix responsibilities and accountability amongst the team preparing the results, because today the work culture has deteriorated to abysmal levels, with an attitude of `working for the money, nothing else matters’.
There have been umpteen cases of suicide by victims of various forms of aberration in society and the law has appropriately been designed to penalize those abetting suicide. No such case has been filed against the examining authority or the parents, though there have been umpteen instances of parental pressure exerted on students to excel. So, where does one draw the line of abetment to suicide, when parents aspire for their wards to perform well, backed by sustained reminders to `study’?
Recently, the State government had announced plans to provide counselors at secondary schools. Why not have such round-the-clock distress counselors at the Board level, fully functional post declaration of results? Some schools have appointed counselors for students at their own initiative, but there’s need to counsel teachers as well as parents too, who have at times been abject failures in understanding student behavior. Unresolved anxieties often result in building up of tension within. Even our decision-makers live in a blind alley, professing to improve the lot of the young generation. Counseling necessarily has to be a collective exercise, involving parents, teachers and students. This is a triangle of forces. Any effort on one arm, without involving the others is bound to fail.
Parents on the other hand have been brainwashed into thinking that excellence in academics is the be all and end all in life. They refuse to comprehend that comparing their wards’ academic performance with their neighbour’s/relative is a curse detrimental to the growth of their offspring. Detractors may argue that competitive spirit is a must to be a step ahead. If this attitude is ruining lives, then the formula has failed. Not all great men had brilliant academic careers. Sir Isaac Newton showed little promise in school, even described as being “inattentive” and “idle”. Many others had failed. There’s a lesson to learn from this. It indicates a serious existing system error, which nobody is prepared to rectify. Any challenge to the system could upset the applecart of academic institutions and the manpower employed working therein like a well oiled machine. Everyone seems to be caught in the rat race.
The flawed assumption that merit in studies alone is a must to succeed in life has to be corrected, if need be even by roping in religious leaders to pontificate on the priceless value of life. There have been too many frustrations, too many suicides in society. Let’s hope parents are extra sensitive towards their children and accept them for what they are.
