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Suriya appeals to students against death by suicide, says exam is not bigger than life

Suriya’s appeal comes in the wake of three students taking their own lives in Tamil Nadu over the NEET exam.

Tamil actor Suriya released a video on Saturday, September 18, appealing to students against taking their own lives. His video comes on the back of three suicides of students who had recently appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam in Tamil Nadu

Beginning the video with the poem ‘Achamillai, achamillai, acham enbathu illaye (I have no fear over anything) written by Tamil poet Subramania Bharati or Bharatiyar as he is popularly known as, Suriya said,  “All students should live without fear and with confidence, as a brother I humbly appeal to you.”

“Do you remember an incident from last week or last month which incredibly upset you? Do you feel it with the same intensity? Definitely the pain would have lessened. Or it could have completely withered away. An exam is not bigger than your life. If you are depressed, please approach the people who you are close with, like parents, teachers, friends and let yourself out. Fear, anxiety, dejection and depression are things which disappear after a while. But suicide, the decision to your end your life is a life time punishment to your parents who love you. Don’t forget this,” he urged.

Talking about his own poor performance in education, he said, “I have failed in all the exams which I have appeared in. Have scored humiliatingly low marks. And I can say this as someone who associates with you: Life is not just about scores and exams. There is a lot to achieve. To understand and love you, there are a lot of people. If we have confidence and courage in ourselves, everyone can win in life, and achieve big.” He concluded the video with the same poem.

Over the past week, three students — Dhanush, Kanimozhi and Soundharya — died by suicide in Tamil Nadu over the fear of not being able to clear the NEET exam. Since 2017, there have been at least 17 students who have taken their own lives due to NEET.

Following Dhanush’s death, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution on September 13 to scrap NEET and to enrol students in medical colleges based on their Class 12 marks. The Bill tabled in the Assembly said that the evaluation system was unjust as it worked against students from underprivileged backgrounds. The statement of objects and reasons in the Bill stated that the high level committee led by retired judge Justice AK Rajan had shown that those who are most affected by this exam come for lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Social groups affected the most were the students of Tamil medium, coming from rural backgrounds, students from government schools, those having parental income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh per annum, and the socially depressed and disadvantaged groups like the Most Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the Bill said. 

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Source: The News Minute