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In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

wired.co.uk

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Re: In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

#31

Post by denzil_correa »

modi15 wrote: post #17
kamaal wrote: post #10

These things have always existed in India. Largely happens because most people come from a strata of society where failure is not an option. Should you fail, you go back to the same crappy conditions all life. Having said that, Indians solicit social approval as a report card that evaluates their life. And due to this people face irrational pressures from total strangers who have no stake in their lives. I remember s…

> Having said that, Indians solicit social approval as a report card that evaluates their life. Ask any psychologist and they will confirm that 'soliciting social approval as a report card to evaluate their life' is basically a human condition affection close to 100% of the species. The only thing 'Indian' about it is that maybe only Indians think that its an 'Indian' thing.

> The only thing 'Indian' about it is that maybe only Indians think that its an 'Indian' thing.

There are varying degrees of "social approval". Cultural anthropology studies envision societies to be broadly divided into shame vs guilt societies. In a guilt society, social control comes through via inculcation of guilt for undesirable behaviors. In a shame society, the primary means for social control is the inculcation of shame and fear of ostracism [0]. Generally, Eastern societies like India, China and Japan tend towards the shame society spectrum while Western societies like US tend towards the guilt society end.

[0] Wong, Y., & Tsai, J. (2007). Cultural models of shame and guilt. The self-conscious emotions: Theory and research, 209-223.

Re: In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

#32

Post by helloindia »

modi15 wrote: post #17
kamaal wrote: post #10

These things have always existed in India. Largely happens because most people come from a strata of society where failure is not an option. Should you fail, you go back to the same crappy conditions all life. Having said that, Indians solicit social approval as a report card that evaluates their life. And due to this people face irrational pressures from total strangers who have no stake in their lives. I remember s…

> Having said that, Indians solicit social approval as a report card that evaluates their life. Ask any psychologist and they will confirm that 'soliciting social approval as a report card to evaluate their life' is basically a human condition affection close to 100% of the species. The only thing 'Indian' about it is that maybe only Indians think that its an 'Indian' thing.

We are talking about way above what is considered "normal". If something good happens, Indians know how to make the whole world know about it. -> Extravagant weddings. -> distributing sweets to the whole street when having a boy, when a student gets a good rank in exams.. etc.

Re: In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

#34

Post by worldexplorer »

kamaal wrote: post #11
nishnik wrote: post #4

I appreciate this for the article points out an alarming issue. But there has been slight mis-representation. It slightly portrays that Indian engineering education landscape starts and ends in IITs only. No, there are the NITs, BITSes, IIITs, IISc and others which have equal facilities as IITs and are even doing better than some IITs.

>>It slightly portrays that Indian engineering education landscape starts and ends in IITs only. Well, the problem is people treat degrees from these institutions as lifelong aristocratic privilege. Once you start going in that direction, its now in your interest to keep the myths alive about your alma mater. How else are you going to earn higher than everybody else? You have to convince the society nobody can ever b…

And the constant taunting they get when they are not able to get 'expected' package . 'Oh you are from IIT why working in this startup at such low package. My friend from XYZ college is working for much better company/salary than you.'

Interests, skills, background, ambitions and the human behind the degree all goes to hell.

Re: In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

#36

Post by anilgulecha »

coldtea wrote: post #33

How is death less high pressure that an exam so as to seem more enticing an option?

It could be possible that students in a high-stress, highly-competitive, financially-addled situation are unable to see the cold logic you've presented.

Re: In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

#37

Post by nikhilprem »

Kota has become infamous but there are other places like Hyderabad where student suicides is a serious problem. This happens even in IITs in India.

Taking admission in a prestigious college is a pressure situation in every country. What separates the rest of the world from India is that Indian students are left in isolation during this time in places like Kota. Family is not around during this vulnerable time. This sure will change in the coming years.

Re: In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

#38

Post by __s »

DanBC wrote: post #29
more-coffee wrote: post #5

"Large group of young students in India, pursuing a future under impossible circumstances, collapsing under the immense pressure and leading some of them to commit suicide." Well, that's terrible. Surely we should discuss why they even get to this point, and how this could be prevented? "Most suicides happen by hanging from ceiling fans, so let's make anti-suicide ceiling fans." Nailed it.

Obviously you need more than safer fans, but don't knock it. Reducing access to means and methods is the most important thing you can do for suicide prevention. People talk about method substitution, but that doesn't always happen.

The root of the issue is people choosing they want to die, not that people are able to die

Re: In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

#39

Post by hi41 »

worldexplorer wrote: post #34
kamaal wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>It slightly portrays that Indian engineering education landscape starts and ends in IITs only. Well, the problem is people treat degrees from these institutions as lifelong aristocratic privilege. Once you start going in that direction, its now in your interest to keep the myths alive about your alma mater. How else are you going to earn higher than everybody else? You have to convince the society nobody can ever b…

And the constant taunting they get when they are not able to get 'expected' package . 'Oh you are from IIT why working in this startup at such low package. My friend from XYZ college is working for much better company/salary than you.' Interests, skills, background, ambitions and the human behind the degree all goes to hell.

The constant comparison to others really hurts. One is never happy, always looking at the next move to bring happiness which never happens.

Re: In India, high-pressure exams are creating a student suicide crisis

#40

Post by 110011 »

This is a pretty inane article for placing too much emphasis on a stupid gimmick like anti-suicide ceiling fans, when the underlying issue is a serious mental health issue of extraordinarily stressed students.

I'm Indian and I remember the summer of my 12th grade exams back in 2007 just like yesterday because of some latent awareness that something very important is happening here. I sat in so many exams that summer. First was the CBSE boards aka AISSCE (which was the all-important failsafe), then AIEEE (for admission to the NITs), then BITSAT (for admission to BITS), and finally the IITJEE (for admission to the IITs). All these exams are fairly long, and you compete at the national level.

Already back then the competition was fierce with kids enrolling in tuition centers half a decade even before their first attempt at any of these exams (it was quite common for people to try a few times). I could write a very long essay about the depth of preparation that goes into attempting these exams. It is quite natural that the competitive pressures has worsened over the years with students attempting to out-prepare one another by even bigger margins.

In a country so huge, of course not all students attempt this route, but landing a seat in the small list of prestigious institutions is the only ticket to a good career in India for the most part. This is not unlike American students who take AP level courses, demonstrate exceptional talent in sports or music, or volunteer their time in different ways to stand out in the application process at one of the big name schools. So in that sense, this is describing a very relatable struggle among students across nations, though the means are substantially different.

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