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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

#61

Post by jackhack »

kstx wrote: post #59

Just wondering how this might be tied to the statistic[1] which ranks top countries (hours/week) where parents help their kids with their homework. India ranks as the top country. This might set bad habits to the students with learning, as they come more dependant to get help from their parents (and other peers) and it might also hamper their problem solving skills. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16882430

And not too far from parental "assistance: is the question of cheating, which is reportedly widespread. Is it the pressure of the exams alone, or anger about the cheating-prevention measures?

Somewhat related, I recall stories of riots in China due to anti-cheating measures -- teachers and proctors were dragged into the streets and beaten, and one parent indignantly proclaimed "It's not fair! If they cannot cheat, how will they succeed?"

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

#62

Post by notyourday »

110011 wrote: post #40

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.…

> 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.

That's what happens when a nation of over a billion people has only a few hundred thousand spots on a top. It is insane competition. Wired is writing about it because this level of competition is absolutely foreign to the last few generations of westerners.

It is a norm for India, China or Russia. And these are the people who will be competing with us in 10-20 years.

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

#63

Post by ieuan »

rc_hadoken wrote: post #50
manojlds wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So to admit my daughter to pre kindergarten, the school expects her to know the alphabet already. Talk about pressure.

Is that hard to teach..I mean..its the alphabet..Excuse my possibly ignorant questioning.

Depends on the pupil. I'm dyspraxic and never learnt the alphabet. It hasn't affected my life or career. Not sure what use it would be to me.

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

#64

Post by leadingthenet »

rc_hadoken wrote: post #50
manojlds wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So to admit my daughter to pre kindergarten, the school expects her to know the alphabet already. Talk about pressure.

Is that hard to teach..I mean..its the alphabet..Excuse my possibly ignorant questioning.

Yes, it’s ridiculous that kids can’t just be kids anymore, they already have to be a part of the hamster wheel by age 5-6. Knowing the alphabet at that age is far less important than gaining social skills by playing, and spending carefree time with other children.

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

#65

Post by volkk »

coldtea wrote: post #33

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

Have you ever been in a situation where all you want is for it to be no more? I have, and while I haven't actually considered suicide, few thoughts have definitely ran through my mind wondering "what if I just didn't exist anymore so that I wouldn't be in this miserable situation" before quickly snapping out of it. Some people don't snap out of it and latch onto it while it slowly festers, and then ultimately it just happens on a particularly low day.

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

#66

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

vinceguidry wrote: post #51

When I learned that the military suicide rate is no higher than the suicide rate in the civilian world, my criteria for believing that any one thing is so deleterious to mental health that it actually drives people to suicide went up tremendously. Our minds are remarkably robust and most will handle immense pressure. Some minds just aren't. Sure, they'll crack under pressure. But that pressure can come from literally…

I wouldn’t expect the military suicide rate to be higher than the civilian one. Yes, the military does involve stresses, but there is also some sense of camaraderie and common cause. I’d expect more suicide in places where people don’t get those kinds of social bonds.

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

#67

Post by Simulacra »

Wow, this sounds so much like China. In college I had a professor who obsessed over a conundrum: India, the world's largest democracy, is also its poorest. Why? He believed it was due to caste, religion, and education. I wonder if India is continually looking east and trying to duplicate some of the Chinese rise to power.

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

#68

Post by Retric »

notyourday wrote: post #62
110011 wrote: post #40

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.…

> 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. That's what happens when a nation of over a billion people has only a few hundred thousand spots on a top. It is insane competition. Wired is writing about it because this level of competition is absolutely f…

India is seeing very rapid per capita GDP growth. So, while the number of top economic spots is limited the range of 'acceptable' is expanding fairly quickly.

However, exams like this are still stressful in Japan where high standards of living are far more accessible. Which suggests it's more about importance and being zero sum that's the core issue.

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

#70

Post by jerf »

pulsarpietro wrote: post #35

All striving to conform, what a waste of minds. Poor people, they should rebel.

"Poor people, they should rebel."

... and then...?

Smash the institutions providing a way to raise themselves up, and then...?

I assume you'd want them to build up new ones, to which I'd ask, out of what, exactly? And when they build up new ones, how will these new ones avoid having the problem that they must inevitably pass through a period where the number of people who want to use them will grossly exceed the available capacity of the system?

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