Frustrated with online lessons, girl kills self

Khushi, class 8 student from Rajkot, was not comfortable with online learning and submissions, says kin; despite crunch, father had got her a smart phone

By Nischal Sanghavi

Emotional stress over online schooling and submission of homework is taking a heavy toll on the mental health of children who are forced to study in the confines of home during pandemic-induced lockdown. One such child, a 12-yearold student from Rajkot, died by hanging on Monday apparently fed up of online learning and homework submission and upset with not being able to meet her classmates.

Victim Khushi Shingadia was a Class 8 Gujarati-medium student of Rajkot’s Jaykishan School. The suicide took place at 10 am on Monday at her residence. Police sources said that Khushi’s mother had asked her to complete the homework assigned by the school, a task she did not particularly like. She replied to her mother that she was going to have a bath. After much time elapsed, her mother went to her room to check on her and found her hanging.

The child was taken to Rajkot Civil Hospital but was declared brought dead. Khushi had joined the school only last year and was an average student who scored 72% marks in the term exam in Class 7, according to the school’s principal Milan Viradia. The school had mass promoted the students in view of the lockdown, he said.

Khushi lived with her parents and her 7-yr-old brother at Girnar Society in Mavdi area. Her father Rohit Shingadia runs an auto garage near their home and deals in pre-conditioned cars. Already under financial stress himself because of loss of business, he managed to buy a Rs 10,000 smartphone for the kid so she did not miss out on the online classes. The family has not been able to pay their last electricity bill yet, their kin told Mirror.

Khushi’s maternal uncle Jentibhai Tank said she wore spectacles due to which she was not comfortable with looking at the cellphone continuously and studying in a closed room.

When the school announced online teaching, Khushi’s father bought her a smartphone so that she did not miss her classes. “This, despite the fact that he was out of business because of the lockdown and under severe financial crunch. He has not even been able to pay the last electricity bill,” Tank said.

He added, “It was her first cellphone and cost around Rs 10,000. Her parents use cheaper phones. They got it for her so that she felt comfortable studying,” he said. According to Ritesh Patel, writer at A Division Police station in Rajkot, Khushi was fed up sitting at home and attending the school’s online classes. Since the schools that got shut in March have yet not reopened, the teachers have started conducting regular classes online.

Students are required to attend lectures at allotted times, seated in front of the computer or smartphone. Jaykishan School had begun online teaching as per the guidelines issued by the government, said Milan Viradia, the promoter of the school. “Online classes had only begun 10 days ago and Khushi was responding well,” he said.

“The school sends the students 15-20 minute long video capsules by teachers on Whatsapp.We ensure that a student does not spend more than 1.5 hours on studying.” The students are then supposed to learn through the videos and complete their homework, take pictures of the same and send them back to the school,” Viradia added. Around 1,050 students are enrolled in the school of which 35 students study in Khushi’s class. Even during such a time, the devastated family has shown immense grace and their daughter’s eyes.