An estimated six students are reported to have committed suicide in Mumbai only in May. These will pass into the record books as the deaths due to examination-related stress — at that time of the year. But away from the professional statistics-toters, what does it really tell us about a city and a society? In Mumbai, deaths of students who could not cope and who did not receive timely succour from within their homes or the community outside, drive home the city’s decline in ways in which those other recent indicators could not — be it the stalling of its infrastructure projects, or the depletion of its spirit by the shenanigans of the morality police now endorsed by the nanny state.But the problem is more sprawling than Mumbai. In Delhi, for instance, a survey of students in 150 schools by VIMHANS, a leading mental health institute, has found that 40 per cent felt overwhelmed by examinations. Their anxieties have even had a token resonance in the corridors of power. Recently, Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh ostentatiously deliberated with policy-makers and promised a policy guideline by 2006 and a national debate before that on how we can lower the enormous load of examination stress on students without lowering the quality of the education. At the conclave, there were suggestions that the present examination system be replaced by an open-book, flexible time system, or by a continuous and comprehensive evaluation system with grading and career counselling. There was talk of doing away with disparities in state boards in favour of a common syllabus for students across the country. But any reform plan will depend crucially upon the political priority accorded to it. An HRD ministry that has so far reserved its loudest enthusiasms for detoxification drives, when it is not manoeuvering policy and patronage to shore up vote banks, does not inspire hope.But even as we keep up the pressure for a restructured policy, we cannot afford to wait for it. The deaths of students in our towns and metropolises make some urgent demands on us. Helplines must be set up and they must be kept alive. As a community, we must find again the compassion and the sensitivity that can help us reach out to our children when they need it most.
