Overload!
by Ramya Raman

In its chilling simplicity, Ramu's note told a tale. Ramya Kannan looks at the situation that caused a Chennai boy to end his life.

On June 12, Ramu Abhinav, a X standard student of Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai, was found hanging in his home. But the bruises on Ramu's cheek told another story.

"He had a bruise below his left eye the day before he died. He said he had got hurt trying to duck the blows his maths teacher rained on him for having scored low marks," Ramu's mother, P. S. Chandrika, recollects. His suicide note left no doubts as to what pushed him over the edge. "I don't like this life, so I did this. No one should cry for my death. I don't like this school, my marks are very low." In its chilling simplicity, Ramu's note told a tale.

"The syllabus is what is primarily wrong. What we have today in the name of syllabus is a monstrous burden which does nothing to mould children. The present system is simply out to falsify the belief that education is a process of enquiry and learning," says Ossie Fernandes of the Tamil Nadu Child Rights Protection network. By implication then, textbooks, note books and examinations are all part of a large `cramming' game that has no scientific basis for skill development or comprehension. The loudest complaint of educationists in Tamil Nadu is that successive Governments have failed to take note of the recommendations of various committees to reduce the burden on children.

The Yash Pal Committee recommendations lie forgotten. Tamil Nadu itself had its own Sivagnanam Committee whose task was to reduce the load on children and suggest ways in which to evolve a "child-friendly curriculum". Its recommendations have not even been made public.

The harshest link in the tortuous "education" chain is the examination system. "Nothing is digested, assimilated by a child. All that the examination evaluates is the regurgitation capacity of a student," says Mr. Fernandes. What it has also done is spawn a parallel market of "coaching" classes, offering "intensive tuition" to students from primary classes to those taking the engineering and medical entrance examinations.

Often, the child has to run from one tuition class to another to get "extra coaching" that would help score the "right" marks. The failure to measure up to standards consequently lands students in deep trouble — they are targets of verbal and physical abuse from their teachers and sometimes, school managements. Ridicule and verbal abuse are common in schools that aim at running "successful" enterprises. "It is a bazaar out there. One city school has sections from A to R for each class," according to Mr. Fernandes.

The whole system is linked to results in examinations and profits. Once the profit motive enters the picture, dedication and commitment beat a hasty retreat. Driven by school managements to produce results, teachers find themselves adversaries of the very children they are supposed to guide and instruct. "This approach is extremely flawed. The teacher should not see the child as an adversary. Every child has certain capacities — these must be developed and at his/her own pace. The education system should provide the space for that," says Girija Kumarababu, a child rights consultant.

At a public hearing organised in the State in March last year on all forms of torture, degrading treatment and sexual abuse of children, three cases of corporal punishment, one even amounting to murder, were brought before the jury. All the three children had died and their parents were running from pillar to post seeking justice. The Tamil Nadu Child Rights Protection network has documented at least 10 reported cases of death caused due to torture, cruelty and degrading treatment in schools.

For three years now, just before the Board Examination results are announced, Sneha, a suicide prevention organisation, has been leaving its telephone lines open for 24 hours to enable students and parents to call in.

"At least 40 to 50 per cent of the calls are from students and parents, wondering if their results will match the expectations of their parents and teachers," says Lakshmi Vijayakumar, psychiatrist and founder, Sneha. With parents egging children on to perform and score a certain percentage, pressure increases both at home and in school. And some children just cannot cope and they contemplate suicide.

There is yet another group of callers to Sneha, which worries about whether it will get the "cut off" marks for entrance examinations — establishing a direct link between the emphasis on success and the higher education system.

"The pressure in schools is naturally connected to the mess of higher education. The need to score the requisite cut off percentage, years of preparation, expense incurred and the frustration if the child does not make the grade — they can have a lasting psychological impact", a city-based psychiatrist says.

A State-sponsored education system, with relaxed syllabi and committed quality instructors would be the only way out, educationists point out. A member of the Sivagnanam Committee, S. S. Rajagopalan, says the mind-set must change.

"Only recently did the State Government issue an order proposing to hold common exams from VI standard onwards. We are campaigning to reduce the stress on one side and the Government is trying to increase the pressure by declaring common exams for children who are merely 10 years old."

Activity-oriented teaching must be made the norm in schools. Life skills must be given as much importance as other subjects and the child encouraged to learn and imbibe, instead of merely "mugging up". To the educationists, it is clear that the primary responsibility lies squarely at the doorstep of the education department. As Dr. Rajagopalan says, "after all, it is the duty of the State to make a child's life pleasurable and enjoyable at school".