Exam stress and anxiety - a threat that needs urgent attention

With lakhs of students suffering from depression and its effects every year, the education system and society at large needs an immediate course correction

By Anish Pathiyil

Chennai: As February kicks in, the dreaded exam season starts for lakhs of students. The preparation for the high school and higher-secondary board exams are in full swing, with students being told the result will make or break their future. The students who have already escaped from the claws of board exams over the last few years, have no respite, with graduate and postgraduate end-semester exams looming large.

The months succeeding March are also packed with more exams, with national eligibility tests, entrance tests of private institutions and government exams keeping students occupied. The countless exams are also accompanied by another important factor that isn’t given as much importance, the stress that the students are forced to deal with. A survey by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, conducted in 2020, shows that almost 50% of India are currently aged 25 or younger. The sheer volume of students dealing with exams and its stress should warrant more conversations about its effect on mental health.

Data released by the World Health Organisation during the pandemic in 2020 stated that India was the most depressed country in the world. One in six children and teenagers below 19 years of age are the main sufferers. The suicide statistics don’t look good either. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in 2020, said that a student took their life every 42 minutes in India, which amounts to 34 student suicides in a day. This alarming statistic, for whatever reason, isn’t given enough cognisance when compared to the General Enrolment Ratio (GER) and the pass percentages.

So what are the main reasons for the students to feel depressed? To begin with, the fear of failure is the primary concern. The education system is designed in such a way that one single examination judges the students ability in a field of study. Students end up giving importance to the exam rather than the knowledge gained through the course. The fear of failure sets in when the course is neglected and preparation for the exam begins a couple of days before the test.

“More than 20-25% of students are dysfunctional because of exam related anxiety. The anxiety symptoms include lack of sleep, lack of concentration, lack of confidence and also palpitations and chest discomfort,” said Dr. Anoop Vincent, Professor and HOD, SNIMS, Ernakulam.

Another important reason for depression and stress in students is the undue pressure put on them by parents. “If the family is not very supportive or there is an over-involvement of the family and comparison with peer groups, exam-related anxiety gets worse,” said Dr.Anoop.

In a country obsessed with medicine and engineering, very few students are given the option to follow their area of interest. The growing unemployment in the country forces middle-class parents to push their children towards the ever-growing IT industry, so as to secure a decent future.

The institutions have been more about quantity than quality in this regard, creating what the industry calls, ‘unskilled graduates’. Therefore middle-class Indian kids undergo extreme stress to get into a course that doesn’t solve the unemployment problem. Therefore there is a maddening rush to get into the top universities in the country or get a government job that would secure their future. In an attempt to ensure only the cream of the students get into top universities or into government jobs, the difficulty levels of these entrance exams are set extremely high.

Examinations like NEET, JEE, CA and the PSC examinations require months if not years of preparation to get through. When the timeframe of the preparation increases, there are more chances of the students feeling depressed and anxious. The intense competition in these exams increases the pressure on the students due to the already bleak chances of qualification compounded by the resources spent in terms of both time and money.

“Students generally realise and come visit doctors only two-three months before the exam. By then it is too late for psychiatric intervention. Planning on how to deal with the mental stress is as important as planning for the examinations,” said Dr. Anoop.

Another issue in terms of these competitive exams is the rise of the coaching centre business. Parents, in their quest to provide the best platform for their wards, leave no stone unturned and enrol them in such centres to stand the best chance of qualification. The already heavy workload in academics is further aggravated through such courses whose actual benefit to the student is highly debatable.

“The mental health of students are indeed getting affected as schools and colleges are becoming training centres rather than knowledge centres,” said Jayaprakash Gandhi, a renowned career consultant and analyst in Tamil Nadu. “The main issue is the lobby of the entrance exam coaching centres. There is no regulation to check the quality of these classes. The social divide being the rich and poor is widening due to these centres,” he added.

A recent study states that the emergence of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will create a lot of jobs before the year 2030, much like the IT boom of the 2000s. But the current state of the education system will not allow the younger generation to make full use of this opportunity. Due importance should be provided to the gaining of knowledge rather than marks in the examinations.

78% of graduates are currently working in streams unrelated to their undergraduate program. The pressure to get a job at the age of 21 must be toned down and students must be made aware of the variety of career options at their disposal. Parents must be willing to accept these career choices and not succumb to the judgements of certain sections of the society. Students must be given the time and space to choose a stream of their liking.

Students undergoing anxiety and depression must be coaxed to take support from mental health professionals, breaking all the social stigma attached to it. Parents must also be made aware of the early signs of depression so that they can detect symptoms at an early stage. The government must also take note of this serious problem and institute sessions by counsellors and also create a helpline for students suffering from anxiety.