Students in Pakistan carry the dreams and expectations of their parents who have worked hard to provide their children a life much better than they had. As most of the families belong from middle to lower class, the pressure to attain good higher education in order to curate a brighter future for themselves and for their parents is a lot higher.
The current poor conditions of Pakistan’s educational system doesn’t cater to the diverse talent pool leaving few options to opt for in order to succeed in life or at least in Pakistan; engineering and medical. These two professions have become the pinnacle of what we call a ‘successful career’, in this country.
Via Parhlo
But unfortunately, with limited seats only available for top-scoring students leave the thousands of aspiring children with extreme stress and anxiety that often leads to suicide. There have been several cases that have emerged recently where students killed themselves because they couldn’t score better or failed. Another sad case of suicide comes to light after the recent ETEA (Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency) test was held all over KPK, on Sunday.
Via Facebook/ETEA
ETEA is an entrance test for admissions to the public and private medical and dental colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Asif, who appeared in this test but failed to achieve high scores, took his life.
Via Twitter
When will achieving good quality education will become available to everyone without costing them an arm and a leg?
Another question that arises is when will parents and their children stop holding medical and engineering degrees as the only available career path, that if you fail to enroll in respective universities, it is the end of your future and sadly, your life as well? There is a dire need for awareness of new programmes that are being offered in this country if any. While parents need to understand that medical is not the last or the most rewarding option.
The pressure of not living up to your parent’s expectations and fearing the disappointment including the embarrassment that you will bring onto your parents in front of the entire family gets to them, making them choose the cowardly option of simply taking their lives away.
The entire country is enraged at Asif’s demise, blaming the educational standards and parents who are hard on their children.
It’s not just the educational system, it is the lack of career paths in this country due to zero efforts from the respective authorities towards introducing latest fields whether in tech or otherwise, including improving the standard that desperately needs to be updated.
Hats off to our education system. Zero concepts, zero problem solving techniques, zero IQ level and position holder in board. 35k students failed etea and one committed suicide. Speechless! #ETEA
— Nom@n (@NoManIsPerfekt) August 27, 2019
Parents share equal blame for pressurizing their children into pursuing degrees that do not align with their own interests and talent.
A student has committed suicide after not passing #etea test. This is what happens when a child is fed with the concept that If he/she doesn't succeed in becoming a doctor or engineer then there is nothing else in life to live for.
— S. (@rohaa123) August 27, 2019
Let your child discover their own potential and help them as good selfless parents in making their own dream a reality.
Look kids, I'll tell you something. Getting low marks on #etea and #mdcat feels bad. Getting treated like shit and humiliated by family and friends feels worse. But, being stuck a doctor till death, when you were born an artist? THAT feels like hell. Live your dream. #freedom
— Umair Arshad (@TheUmairArshad) August 26, 2019
Down the road, even if you achieve your parents’ dream of becoming a doctor or an engineer and have a rewarding career but if that is not what you wanted to do, it will slowly eat you from within leaving you depressed and unfulfilled. Hard work always pays off, so continue on the path that you want to walk on and eventually success will come to you.
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