The last few days have been deeply disturbing.
News from different districts of Jammu & Kashmir about young students taking their own lives after the Class 10 results should shake our collective conscience. One child lost is one too many. No examination result can ever justify such a loss.
At the same time, social media is flooded every year with public expressions of disappointment , sometimes even shame, when children score “only” 85% or 90%. This culture of comparison, flaunting, and silent humiliation has become an annual ritual. It is unhealthy, illogical, and dangerous.
As per NCRB data, India reports nearly fourteen thousand student suicides every year. Many are linked to academic stress, exam failure, or fear of disappointing family and society.
Class X (or XII) board marks do not determine life outcomes. They never have.
Globally, the most advanced education systems do not obsess over marks. Many follow pass–fail or broad distinction systems, focusing on conceptual understanding, curiosity, creativity, and skills. During my time at Oxford, I saw firsthand how learning is valued over scoring , how education is meant to expand minds, not trap children in rank lists.
In real life, society needs scientists, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, artists, policy professionals, judges, and innovators — not lifelong “Class 10 distinction holders”.
For perspective: I scored 55% in Class X. Years later, I secured Rank 51 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Life has turned out just fine. Marks did not define the journey but learning, resilience, and purpose did.
To parents, relatives, neighbours, and well-wishers:
Please show restraint.
Do not flaunt marks publicly.
Do not compare children.
Do not reduce a child’s worth to a percentage.
To our students:
One exam does not define you.
One result does not limit your future.
Your life matters far more than any marksheet.
Let us be kinder. Let us be wiser.
Let our children learn, grow, fail, recover, and discover their own paths , without fear.
A society is judged not by its toppers, but by how safely it holds its children.
@UVS_01@iamsahilparray Jb vote kliye reservation di ja rhi thi. Us waqt tribal march shuru huyi, Tb open merit kyu nhi aya samne. Tb shyid yeh dimag mein tha gujjar pahadi apas mein lad rhe hein..Us waqt ki tweets and post b yehi show krti thi. Maza kiya ja rha tha.
Kashmiri Muslins are racist and have a superiority complex. A few years back In Lal Ded Hospital a Gujjar pregnant Woman was not given admission and she delivered a baby on the road in front of the same hospital. Last year a Gujjar women was raped in Kashmir. Kashmiri Muslins use Gujjar as a derogatory word for someone who is shabby.
Now Omar Abdullah is threatening the reservation given to the downtrodden and marginalized communities.