A student of Edwards College, Peshawar, committed suicide due to a letter written to his father about his absence
KARACHI: A student of Edwards College, Peshawar, committed suicide due to a letter written to his father about the absence of his son from college. The boy who committed suicide was a student of 1st year of pre- medical.
News accounts claimed that the principal of Edwards College wrote a letter to his father mentioning that Hamza had a 52% attendance and so he would not be eligible to sit for the exams. However, according to a story published in a national daily, the management of the college had stated that such a letter was sent out to all those students whose attendance was less than 75% and did not have any accusatory tone.
However, this is a matter of concern. When a society promotes the value of education to the point where a student may commit suicide over the shame of not measuring up to the standards set by the institution, there must be something truly wrong with our education system.
While parents could act as a support system for their children, they are so caught up with boasting about their children’s academic achievement that they ignore the sufferings of a child. Ignore their happiness and mental well-being over mere numbers in their report cards.
Parents need to understand that not everyone is perfect in studies and hence, they should encourage and support their children in fields they want to opt for.
Syed Muhammad Baqar
Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th, 2018.
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