NEET-linked Suicides: A Case Study

Syllabus: GS4/Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

Context

• Recent tragic suicides, including a 22-year-old and other aspirants nationwide, highlights calls for mental health support and systemic reform in high-stakes entrance testing.

NEET-linked Suicides: Case in Brief

• NEET-linked suicides include those students who either prepare or appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and commit suicide due to the stress of the exam, fear of failure, parental expectations, social pressure, etc.

Key Ethical Issues in NEET-linked Suicides

• Devaluation of Intrinsic Value of an Individual to Marks, Ranks and Admission: Denying human dignity by reducing the value of a student to his marks and ranks.
• Lack of ethics of care: The students receive no emotional support from families, schools, coaching institutes and society.
• Unreasonable social and parental pressures: Exceedingly high expectations rob students of their independence, welfare and emotional well-being.
• Commercialisation of education: In many cases, the educational institutions give priority to results and profit over the holistic development of the students.
• Stigmatisation of failure: The student sees failure as a personal flaw or an indication of inadequacy.
• Absence of proper counselling services: Insufficient counselling services and absence of accessible psychological services are against the obligation to take care.
• Development of low EI and resilience: Too much emphasis on academic success at the cost of emotional development and resilience.
• Comparisons on social media: Continuous comparison on social media raises the stress levels of the students.
• Institutional Responsibility and Accountability: It is the obligation of the educational institution to make it an emotionally safe place for all the students.
• Issues of Equity and Justice: Access to better coaching classes raises the issue of equity.

Ethical Considerations for Handling Exam-linked Suicides

• Human Dignity (deontological/Kantian ethics): Each human being is an end-in-itself and is dignified irrespective of success or failure.
  • Each student possesses intrinsic value irrespective of his marks or ranks.
  • Policy and social attitudes should reflect that life has worth apart from accomplishments.
• Ethics of care: Care and compassion are essential for families, schools, coaching institutes and society.
  • Relationships, attentive listening and a nurturing environment are its central aspects.
• Compassion and Empathy: It means understanding the problems of the students without judging. It implies a humane response and not blaming or stigmatising.
• Emotional Intelligence (EI): Daniel Goleman describes EI as the ability to know, control and empathise with others.
  • Students should develop self-awareness, the ability to control their emotions and stress and build resilience.
  • Teachers / parents should be empathic and sensitive.
• Responsibility and Duty of Care: It is the moral obligation of the educational institution to provide counseling, mentoring and safe spaces.
  • Parents and society have collective responsibility.
• Justice and Fairness: Equal access to quality education, counseling and opportunities irrespective of socio-economic factors.
  • Reduce inequalities caused by the coaching ecosystem.
• Autonomy and Respect for Individual Choice: Students should be able to choose a career based on their talents and interests.
• Virtue Ethics: Virtues like resilience, perseverance, courage, self-discipline and hope should be promoted among the students.
• Communitarian Ethics: Improve social connectedness and community engagement to fight loneliness and isolation.
• Ethics of Well-Being/Holistic Development: Education should take into account the holistic development of personality, i.e., intellectual, emotional, moral and social development, and not just examinations.

Way Forward: Building a Life-affirming Society

• For Families: Do not compare excessively, recognize efforts rather than results; and open communication.
• For educational institutions: Provide counselling and mentoring, value education and life skills and normalization of failure and resilience.
• For Society: Destigmatize mental illnesses, appreciate perseverance, not only success, empathy and inclusivity.

Conclusion

• An ethical society cannot judge human beings based on their examination scores or professional success.
• As per Ernest Hemingway ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated’.
• It is the ethical responsibility of families, institutions and society to make sure that each young person gets enough dignity and support to choose life despite everything.

Source: IE