Flunking in Boards is not end of the road

Most exam results announced and the newspaper front pages full of toppers8217; photographs 8230; but what of students who either flunked their classes or failed to get the marks their parents and teachers hoped for?

With the exception of tragically desperate youngsters like Raju, these are students who just seem to take their shattered egos and bruised souls and disappear into their private hells where parents weep or rage and neighbours smirk.

quot;It is the threat to the ego that pushes the child into a state of depression,quot; says Dr B. S. Chavan, professor and head at the Government Medical College Psychiatry Department.

quot;Depression, which results from the fear of rejection by parents, teachers and friends due to poor performance in examinations, drives a child to suicide.quot; says Dr Chavan.

quot;I passed but just barely. I know what would be waiting for me at home if I failed 8230; it8217;s always on my mind,quot; says one student who recently cleared his Class XII examination with less than glorious marks.

quot;I was so scared of flunking the examination that I carried an insecticide in my pocket,quot; confessed another Class X student who had made up his mind to swallow the poison if the result was negative. Luckily, he passed by scoring 71.4 per cent. quot;It was such a relief, I knew that I was going to live,quot; he said with a big sigh.

Failure to achieve 90 per cent or more is no reason to strike the student8217;s name from the Roll of Human Worth: a talent for academics is not the only talent God bestows. Painters, singer, athletes and many others with unique gifts succeed in life without sizzling marks in school exams8230; And many a one-time school topper may not do very well in life. But to parents and the teachers, high marks matter most.

Nowadays, options in the form of vocational courses are available to students; these are not dependent on the percentage scored by them. Sadly, these options are ususally ignored, hence, murdering the budding talent within a child.

Dr Chavan says: quot;Parents make up their minds about what the child is to become, ignoring the interests, likes and the dislikes of the child.quot; Parents are also typically out of touch with the rapidly expanding career options available to tomorrow8217;s adults, they can think of little beyond 19th century professions such as engineering, medicine, law, education and so forth.

quot;The child is subjected to tremendous performance pressure; he becomes terrified of the reaction of society,quot; says Rajesh Gill, a sociologist.quot;If the parents assure understanding and warmth to their children, irrespective of their performance, they would be able to deal with the facts of life in a better and more informed manner,quot; says Gill.

Also, with no telephone help lines or counselling available to the students here, students receive little emotional support in times of crisis. The poor performers are left to cope with despair and fear of rejection all by themselves. To seek counsel from a psychiatrist would stigmatise the child further as the general notion being that only quot;madquot; people get professional psychiatric help. Parents shy away from getting medical help for their children.

quot;Counselling goes a long way in helping a child to deal with the facts of life but sadly, it is still looked down,quot; says Dr Chavan. quot;One has to assure the dejected child that he or she is not less worthy of affection and happiness than others and that life doesn8217;t revolve around a couple of marks. This is possible only through professional counselling.quot;