[UWSL]At least 23 teenagers in the southern Indian state of Telangana have committed suicide since the results of final school tests were announced in April. Deepthi Bathini, BBC Telugu correspondent, explains why these results have become controversial.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Thota Vennela liked to cook, watch comedy shows and eat street food.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Her older brother, 19-year-old Venkatesh, recently taught her how to ride a motorcycle. "I was really happy that she could ride like a professional biker. But sometimes I followed her without her knowing to make sure she was safe," he says. The brothers fought over the bike and played pranks on each other, and were close.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Venkatesh struggles to hold back tears as he takes out his wallet to show his sister's picture. On April 18, 2019 - the day she found out she had failed her 12th grade exams (a kind of college entrance exam) - Vennela took poison. She died hours later in a hospital.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Vennela was one of more than 320,000 students in Telangana who failed their graduation exams. All of them were enrolled in schools that follow a curriculum set by the state board of education (some Indian schools also teach programs established by a national board).[/UWSL]
[UWSL]The competition to enter higher education in India is fierce. And school leaving exams are crucial to securing a place at good universities – which, in turn, are seen as a safe path to high-paying employment. Major universities also run independent admissions tests, but even students who perform well on them can lose their place if they fail to pass their graduation exams.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]In the days following the announcement of the exam results, students and parents protested, claiming there had been errors in the questions; many demanded that the exams be rescheduled.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"My son got top marks in math, physics and chemistry in his 11 exams. But this year the results show that he got just one math question right and zero in physics right. How is that possible?", asks Venugopal Reddy.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"He was studying for other very competitive (admission) tests. But after the results, he is discouraged. He has stopped studying and eating and refuses to leave the house. I am worried about his mental health," he adds.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]As protests intensified, reports emerged across the state of student suicides who failed exams.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]A children's rights group petitioned the state's highest court, which ordered that the responses of all failing students be reviewed. It turned out that 1,137 of the students who failed actually passed the exams, among them a student who initially scored a zero on one subject ended up scoring a 99 (on a scale of 100) when her answers were re-marked.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]At the center of the controversy is a private software company, Globarena Technology, which in 2017 won the government contract to run the exam statewide to more than 970,000 students. It is also responsible for processing final scores and announcing the results.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Anamika dreamed of joining the Indian Army[/UWSL]
[UWSL]However, the state board of education, which outsourced the work to Globarena, denied that the suicides were linked "to technical errors and processing of results".[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Globarena admitted that there were mistakes.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"We followed the process prescribed by the board. The incidents that happened are regrettable. Initially there were technical errors. We made the corrections," VSN Raju, the company's chief executive, told the BBC.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]The family of one of the students who killed herself - Anamika Yadav - said they would sue the state board of education and Globarena.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Her family told the BBC that the 16-year-old killed herself hours after discovering she had failed her exams. On May 27, the reassessment found that she had passed the tests, but hours later, the grades were revised again - and it was found that she had indeed failed.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]It seems that there were also errors in the review of the scores - which Globarena had not been responsible for.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"We found all this strange," says Anamika's father, Atul Ganesh.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Vennela's father, Gopalakrishna, also says he wants to go to court. "I can't trust the advice. How could my daughter, who was always a good student, have done so poorly on this exam? I need answers."[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Among the 1,137 students who passed the second analysis of the exams, none of the 23 students who killed themselves were found. But her parents don't know what to make of these results - they are shocked and heartbroken, but they are also perplexed and suspicious.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Most parents spoke of their children's dedication and ambition.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Vodnali Shivani, 16, woke up very early every day to study. She wanted to be an engineer and used to tell her father, "Wait five years and our lives will change."[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Billboards with the highest test scores are common in India[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Devasothu Neerja wanted to become a doctor and spent most nights studying. "She always passed all her tests. So we thought we should do what we could to help her," says her father, Rupal Singh.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]18-year-old Bhanu Kiran loved math and wanted to become an ethical hacker, so she spent some of her time watching YouTube tutorials on the subject.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]But these memories give an idea of the pressure to succeed. Students in India - especially those who want to study engineering or medicine - take a series of highly competitive exams, one after the other.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]And the race to secure a place in college starts early - two years before graduation exams - allowing for a risky and prolonged mix of stress, expectations and dreams.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"The exam itself is surrounded by stress," says psychologist Vasupradha Kartic. "Students need to be counseled regularly."[/UWSL]
[UWSL]She adds that students need to be prepared to look beyond exams - that failing doesn't mean they don't have more options for a career or a future.[/UWSL]
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x87VjQGRgK4
@Broly @Zer0/∞ @Transcended Trucel @Caesercel @ReconElement @BiryaniCel
[UWSL]Thota Vennela liked to cook, watch comedy shows and eat street food.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Her older brother, 19-year-old Venkatesh, recently taught her how to ride a motorcycle. "I was really happy that she could ride like a professional biker. But sometimes I followed her without her knowing to make sure she was safe," he says. The brothers fought over the bike and played pranks on each other, and were close.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Venkatesh struggles to hold back tears as he takes out his wallet to show his sister's picture. On April 18, 2019 - the day she found out she had failed her 12th grade exams (a kind of college entrance exam) - Vennela took poison. She died hours later in a hospital.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Vennela was one of more than 320,000 students in Telangana who failed their graduation exams. All of them were enrolled in schools that follow a curriculum set by the state board of education (some Indian schools also teach programs established by a national board).[/UWSL]
[UWSL]The competition to enter higher education in India is fierce. And school leaving exams are crucial to securing a place at good universities – which, in turn, are seen as a safe path to high-paying employment. Major universities also run independent admissions tests, but even students who perform well on them can lose their place if they fail to pass their graduation exams.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]In the days following the announcement of the exam results, students and parents protested, claiming there had been errors in the questions; many demanded that the exams be rescheduled.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"My son got top marks in math, physics and chemistry in his 11 exams. But this year the results show that he got just one math question right and zero in physics right. How is that possible?", asks Venugopal Reddy.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"He was studying for other very competitive (admission) tests. But after the results, he is discouraged. He has stopped studying and eating and refuses to leave the house. I am worried about his mental health," he adds.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]As protests intensified, reports emerged across the state of student suicides who failed exams.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]A children's rights group petitioned the state's highest court, which ordered that the responses of all failing students be reviewed. It turned out that 1,137 of the students who failed actually passed the exams, among them a student who initially scored a zero on one subject ended up scoring a 99 (on a scale of 100) when her answers were re-marked.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]At the center of the controversy is a private software company, Globarena Technology, which in 2017 won the government contract to run the exam statewide to more than 970,000 students. It is also responsible for processing final scores and announcing the results.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Anamika dreamed of joining the Indian Army[/UWSL]
[UWSL]However, the state board of education, which outsourced the work to Globarena, denied that the suicides were linked "to technical errors and processing of results".[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Globarena admitted that there were mistakes.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"We followed the process prescribed by the board. The incidents that happened are regrettable. Initially there were technical errors. We made the corrections," VSN Raju, the company's chief executive, told the BBC.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]The family of one of the students who killed herself - Anamika Yadav - said they would sue the state board of education and Globarena.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Her family told the BBC that the 16-year-old killed herself hours after discovering she had failed her exams. On May 27, the reassessment found that she had passed the tests, but hours later, the grades were revised again - and it was found that she had indeed failed.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]It seems that there were also errors in the review of the scores - which Globarena had not been responsible for.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"We found all this strange," says Anamika's father, Atul Ganesh.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Vennela's father, Gopalakrishna, also says he wants to go to court. "I can't trust the advice. How could my daughter, who was always a good student, have done so poorly on this exam? I need answers."[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Among the 1,137 students who passed the second analysis of the exams, none of the 23 students who killed themselves were found. But her parents don't know what to make of these results - they are shocked and heartbroken, but they are also perplexed and suspicious.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Most parents spoke of their children's dedication and ambition.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Vodnali Shivani, 16, woke up very early every day to study. She wanted to be an engineer and used to tell her father, "Wait five years and our lives will change."[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Billboards with the highest test scores are common in India[/UWSL]
[UWSL]Devasothu Neerja wanted to become a doctor and spent most nights studying. "She always passed all her tests. So we thought we should do what we could to help her," says her father, Rupal Singh.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]18-year-old Bhanu Kiran loved math and wanted to become an ethical hacker, so she spent some of her time watching YouTube tutorials on the subject.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]But these memories give an idea of the pressure to succeed. Students in India - especially those who want to study engineering or medicine - take a series of highly competitive exams, one after the other.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]And the race to secure a place in college starts early - two years before graduation exams - allowing for a risky and prolonged mix of stress, expectations and dreams.[/UWSL]
[UWSL]"The exam itself is surrounded by stress," says psychologist Vasupradha Kartic. "Students need to be counseled regularly."[/UWSL]
[UWSL]She adds that students need to be prepared to look beyond exams - that failing doesn't mean they don't have more options for a career or a future.[/UWSL]
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x87VjQGRgK4
@Broly @Zer0/∞ @Transcended Trucel @Caesercel @ReconElement @BiryaniCel
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