A Cry from the Classroom

“The education system is collapsing. Children are getting worried.

My younger son who is in class 10 says, "Mom, by the time we prepare for the exams, our education system will be over... Our future is in danger because of such an exam system..."

This line is not from a fictional tale. It reflects the genuine anxiety and helplessness felt by millions of students and parents across the country. As a nation that dreams of becoming a global leader, how did we reach a point where the future torchbearers are losing faith in their own classrooms?

This article is an attempt to look into the cracks widening in our education system — a system which once promised knowledge, empowerment, and equality but is now falling into a pit of mismanagement, commercialization, and neglect.

1. The Student’s Fear: Anxiety Beyond Books

When a child says, “By the time we prepare for exams, the system will collapse,” it isn’t just emotional exaggeration. The student’s statement is rooted in truth. Today, exam schedules are uncertain, paper leaks are rampant, results are delayed, and syllabi are inconsistent. Children spend more time in confusion than in actual learning.

There is no greater tragedy than a child who begins to doubt the value of their own education. Once that belief is lost, a generation’s morale is shattered.

2. Education or Business? The Dangers of Commercialization

The concern deepens when we look at how education is increasingly treated as a business. Private players and contractors are being allowed into sensitive areas such as paper setting, exam conduction, evaluation, and even curriculum design. The recent rise in scandals — from paper leaks to fake degrees — proves that some of these contractors are only interested in profit, not student welfare.

A system where children's futures can be bartered for a few rupees is not just broken; it’s corrupt. Can a society that gambles with its future generation ever claim to be truly progressive?

3. Lack of Accountability: Who Should We Ask Questions?

The most haunting question a parent asks today is — Whom should we ask for answers? Is it the school principal, the education board, the education minister, or the outsourced agencies? The layers of responsibility are so dispersed that no one person can be held accountable.

And this is dangerous. A system with no clear line of responsibility becomes a playground for mismanagement. Students and parents are left in limbo, moving from office to office in search of answers they never receive.

4. Teacher’s Dilemma: Overburdened and Undervalued

While it’s easy to blame teachers, we must also acknowledge their predicament. Many are overworked, underpaid, and burdened with non-academic duties like census surveys, election duties, or data collection. The focus has shifted from ‘teaching’ to ‘reporting’. This has created a toxic environment where genuine educators either burn out or leave.

How can we expect children to flourish in classrooms where the teachers themselves are struggling to survive?

5. Technological Disparity and Digital Divide

While the world celebrates EdTech and digital learning, a large part of India’s student population doesn’t even have access to stable electricity, let alone laptops or internet. Online classes, which were seen as a solution during the pandemic, ended up widening the learning gap. Rural children, especially girls, were the worst sufferers.

Education should equalize opportunities — but technology, in the absence of proper infrastructure, has become yet another tool of inequality.

6. Exams, Pressure, and the Mental Health Crisis

The pressure to succeed in exams is not new, but in recent years, it has taken an ugly turn. Student suicides have reached alarming numbers, especially in competitive hubs like Kota. What’s worse — the system still refuses to treat emotional wellness as a core part of the academic journey.

The child who told his mother, “I am worried,” is not just worried about marks. He is worried about relevance, expectations, and a future that feels unstable.

7. Policy Paralysis and Implementation Gaps

While policies like the New Education Policy (NEP) offer hope on paper, the ground reality tells a different story. Schools lack trained teachers, new syllabus designs are poorly communicated, and budget allocations often don’t reach where they are most needed.

A strong policy is meaningless if it does not transform the ground-level classroom experience.

8. Parental Struggles: Silent Sufferers

Parents too are suffering in silence. They stretch finances to send their children to good schools or coaching institutes. But despite these sacrifices, they watch their children grow more anxious and unsure of the future. The pain of seeing your child lose interest in learning is perhaps one of the most heartbreaking things for a parent.

The mother in our story says, “Seeing my son's worry, I am also getting worried.” Her worry is not for marks — it's for her son’s lost smile, shaken belief, and fading innocence.

9. Where Is the Hope? Can This Be Reversed?

Yes, the system is collapsing — but not beyond repair.

• Transparency must be introduced in exam processes.
• Accountability must be fixed at every level — from local school boards to central authorities.
• Teacher training must become a national priority, not just a checkbox.
• Mental health support must be integrated into every school.
• Public schools need urgent strengthening so that education remains a right, not a privilege.
• Listening to students must become the norm — their voice matters.

We need to move from a system that asks children to "compete" to one that teaches them to "create".

10. Conclusion: A Question We All Must Answer

The question still stands: Whom should we ask for answers from?

Perhaps the real question is — When will we, as a society, start answering these questions ourselves?

Education is not just a government responsibility. It’s a collective moral duty. Until teachers, parents, policymakers, and communities come together, the burden will continue to fall on the weakest shoulders — our children’s.

Let us not wait for the system to fully collapse before we rebuild it. The time to act is now — not after another paper leak, another dropout, or another silent child who stops dreaming.

“If the school collapses, the nation crumbles silently.”

Let us not wait for that silence.

@ Mekhala Gupta