Exam pressure results in tragedy

27 March 2012 02:34 am - 27 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Amidst concern over exam burdens and increasing pressure on children, an 18 year-old student who failed the GCE Ordinary Level exam for the second time was found hanging inside her room in Norwood yesterday while a 17-year-old Kalutara student attempted suicide after she failed to get desired results.

The Kalutara student who was rescued by her family members was admitted to the Nagoda General Hospital. She had taken an overdose of drugs after hearing about her result.

Police said the 18 year old student of St. Johns’ School in the Norwood area, identified as Arseratnam Dayalani had been pronounced dead by the time she was admitted to the Norwood Base Hospital. She had obtained one B and C passes and three S passes at the exam.

Police said after a friend informed her about the results, she had been missing for sometime and had later hung herself in her room using a saree.

“Most of the people have succeeded by attempting several times. People, especially students should have the mentality to accept defeat. Everyone is not so lucky to get through major exams,” Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said.

He said that exams were one such barrier in life and passing an exam was a dream after which follows stories of success.

“What parents should do is to identify other abilities of their children and help them to pursue those talents,” he said. (Supun Dias)

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Comments - 27

shanthapriya Tuesday, 27 March 2012 05:19 AM

publicity must not be given to this type of unfortunate incidents.
because others too might try this to become popular.
these innocent students are still minors

shace-uk Tuesday, 27 March 2012 06:58 PM

Raj you are wrong!!!!! i failed my exams...didnt do it for 2nd time but manage to get a skilled job!!!! today i earn more than most professionals....you need to believe in you self!!!! unfortunatley the parents and teachers in SL put lot of pressure on students...and break their self confidence at very yound age...which made this child to commit suicide....its parents and teachers fault!!!!!

balu Tuesday, 27 March 2012 11:30 AM

manike dont talk bull. private medical colleges here are very good standard only jealous radicalls like you have a issue. world is moving so move on or be trampled

balu Tuesday, 27 March 2012 11:42 AM

this is NOT a racial issue! dont post such idiotic comments

ikraam Tuesday, 27 March 2012 09:38 AM

why u hanged...see our politicains....who even not attempted schools are successfull.....

Raj Tuesday, 27 March 2012 07:05 AM

Will an employer look beyond the paper qualification? Isn't how they short list the application. So if you don't good a O/L or A/L result, what chance do you have of finding employment. Those who find employment with low O/L result are treated badly (heavy work and low pay) some work day and night to get measly pay.

Lunumiris Tuesday, 27 March 2012 06:56 AM

Very sad.
There are greater things than passing exams.
That child continuing to live with the family was far more important that her passing the exam as her parents would realise now.
It is good to pass an exam but if one fails people around should provide moral support.

buffaloa citizen Tuesday, 27 March 2012 06:44 AM

All medical colleges of SL are ranked above 1400 in the world. This speaks volumes on quality when comparing such universities with foreign universities of better ranking. One clear trend visible is locally passed out doctors are more businessmen than their counterparts we see in Singapore and India.

Imran Hussein Tuesday, 27 March 2012 05:48 AM

This is really sad. Never heard these things in the past. Parents and teachers also responsible for this type tragedy. Dont ever ask your kids to bring only 'A' s home. Most of the teachers dont know basic psychology.

Shantha Perera Tuesday, 27 March 2012 05:57 AM

Parents are also responsibel as the childern are high pressure for better grades

Samayan Tuesday, 27 March 2012 05:47 AM

you give much publicity because of tamil student if not there were several incidents happened every year after published the exam result.

The Old Man Tuesday, 27 March 2012 05:32 AM

If they could concentrate the GUTS (which they use to attempt suicide) in facing life, they might become a successor in the future. remember, we won't be able to some great inventions and some great world leaders if they committed suicide for the failures they had in their life's.

Leslie Tuesday, 27 March 2012 05:27 AM

In 1958 when the then SSC results were out and I had failed, my father's words to me were "failures are the pillars of success". This gave me encouragement. I put in more work and succeeded the second time. A word to parents, please do not scold or punish your children for failing, but be a source of encouragement to them.

manike Tuesday, 27 March 2012 05:39 AM

Private universities with good standard are welcome but medical colleges without proper standards and no facility for clinical and professorial units are not accepted. Especially when the government is giving them recognition as state medical colleges. Foreign medical graduate also has to sit for a licensing exam (Act 16) but SAITM medical students are just given the degree without sitting for the Act 16 exam.

Kamal Tuesday, 27 March 2012 03:05 AM

"What parents should do is to identify other abilities of their children and help them to pursue those talents" - well said...!!

R.Dias Tuesday, 27 March 2012 04:44 AM

What hope does she has in this country...being an estate workers child ? Besides what is the mechanism to help such children....when Sinhalese children too commit suicide what is her positin being a Tamil ?

M.P THAVENDRAM Tuesday, 27 March 2012 04:36 AM

YA WE SHOULD CHANGE OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN ORDER TO AVOID THIS KIND OF A WORSE SCENARIO. STUDENTS ARE MORE AND MORE PRESURIZED BY THE SCHOOL AS WEL AS PARENTS ALSO

maz Tuesday, 27 March 2012 04:45 AM

what a sad story :( exams were always a nightmare, but i think she might have been suffering from depression. In SL these kind of illnesses arent recognised and treated properly.

citizen1 Tuesday, 27 March 2012 04:02 AM

..as well as their interests and passion. Many Sri Lankan and also other Asian parents are guilty of burdening their children with often unrealistic expectations. I have seen this first hand as a teacher.

Pissu Kolla Tuesday, 27 March 2012 03:34 AM

Sad Scenario....!!! well i shud hav killed my self 4 times in tht case...!! i think its bcoz of the pressure frm the parents and the community..!!!

nalaka Tuesday, 27 March 2012 03:21 AM

their are things more harder than O/L and A/L as life goes onn kids should understand this

RAVANA Tuesday, 27 March 2012 03:43 AM

This is one of the defficiencies in our education system as well as the thinking pattern of parents. There are millions of people who failed in school but succeeded in their lives. We must convey this message to the society.

Gayan Samarasekara Tuesday, 27 March 2012 03:37 AM

Not the first time this was occurred exactly because of the Exam pressure.. Even my best friend in O/L class hanged himself, after getting a "C" for just a single subject (while having the best results for all the other subjects).. One major problem here is, there are no sufficient alternatives such as technical colleges, etc for those who fail the exams. Also, those who get relatively less marks, while passing the exams, are deserving graduate studies.. Therefore, country needs private Universities immediately. Government was making a big hullabaloo few months ago, but now it seems they are not more interested in it..

anura Tuesday, 27 March 2012 03:25 AM

After all exam is one of those things in life . Life is much much much varied , many and larger than exams itself

raj Tuesday, 27 March 2012 03:19 AM

it is the society that failed to support those children who have some difficulties in academic success.

God Tuesday, 27 March 2012 03:30 AM

God Bless

Tharika Tuesday, 27 March 2012 02:53 AM

Agreed, Just because someone doesn't succeed academically does not mean they are a failure in life. And there's much more to life than having some letter printed on a paper.

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Exam pressure results in tragedy

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