IITians suicide exposes educations dark side

HYDERABAD: The suicide by 20-year-old Yalavarthi Sweeya, a student of IIT-Patna, has added one more to the list of students who have committed suicide due to the stress in a performance-driven society.That she was an achiever throughout her school days and had been able to get through a premier institution like Indian Institute of Technology, did not prepare her for the cut-throat competition for marks and grades that hound many educational institutions in the country

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Chukka

Ramaiah, Educationist and founder of the IITstudy circleThe fault lies in the system.Corporate colleges stress on practice mode of solving problems and students are not allowed to think on their own.Rote learning and practicing previous year’s question papers might see students through the hallowed portals (of premier institutes) but they find it difficult to cope up with the academic pressure there.In IIT, the system of teaching is different and the students are expected to solve unfamiliar problems using innovative thinking.That is where most of the students fail, even though they work hard.Tina Fernandes, Head of Dept of Psychology, St. Francis CollegeMany students are pushed hard by their parents and teachers.At some point, the fear of under-achieving creeps into their minds which compels them to make rash decisions. The cycle of eight hours of work, eight hours of play and eight hours of sleep is important to maintain a balance in life. Being cut off from reality does not help and it is important to have inter-personal relationships with real people.