A short-sighted response to student suicides

Two 7th grade students committed suicide after failing to clear the annual examination.
A 12-yr old hanged himself because, inspite of having secured good marks, he was unhappy with his performance.

In response to the above, the State has asked the Centre, if the Right to Education Act 2009, can be put into force with immediate effect. Clause 16 of the RTE Act '09 says "No child admitted in a school shall be held back in any class or expelled from school till the completion of elementary education". [Elementary education is from grade 1 to grade 8]

There are some serious issues on this clause. Though it takes away the pressure from the children, it also takes away the pressure from the teachers and the system to actually educate the children who did not learn in that class. It just provides the student a free pass to the next class, even if he/she has not learnt enough in the current class, even if he/she has failed to understand the basics, failed to form the pre-requisites, the foundation for the next class. Once there is a gap in learning, this gap would only widen, and these children will be just pushed up the classes, only to realize after the elementary education levels, that they're failing and they will eventually drop out.

Where is the accountability on the teachers and the system to educate the young ones? What are the measures that will be taken to ensure that the students who had a gap in learning in this class, will fill this gap before moving on to the next level?

What kind of mindset must the kids be in, when they commit a suicide after failing to clear the annual school examination? They have just begun their lives and they take a decision to put an end to it. Was it because the parents told them something or was it just pure peer pressure? Obviously these kids care about others, care about what others think of them. And the world loses such priceless possessions. I don't think any child will take such a grave step, if a teacher talks to them privately and discusses where they're facing difficulties and how these can be sorted out. I don't think any child will take such a grave step, if teachers and parents give them the confidence that they will not be given up on.

Better still, such evaluation, discussions and corrective actions should be taken at smaller intervals and not wait till an annual examination to realize something is gone wrong. Better still, an entire class should be paced such that each and every student is on board. If it means that the teacher has to take extra classes after normal schooling hours for that student, let that be it. Or if it means that the entire class is slowed down and has to cover up for more hours during the academic year, so be it. Let the teachers be compensated for the extra hours put in, in the form of overtime or incentives. But bring that accountability to the table. The teachers have to take the responsibility or else give up the job.

Allowing the "supposedly failed children" to be promoted to the next level, is not the solution. [I say supposedly failed children, because I believe its not the children who have failed, its the system. Why then should the children be made to feel guilty] Free pass is a short-sighted response to stop student suicides. These children will now commit suicide after failing Std. IX or X board exams, because they will simply not be able to clear them. Then bill will be passed that they should be allowed a free pass till 12th or graduation, but by then graduation won't be enough to get a job and then these young adults will either resort to unlawful professions and become a threat to the Society or do what they would've done earlier, commit suicide.

Its time we started looking at the broader picture, and come up with long term solutions rather than impulsive, short-sighted fixes.