A recent Delhi school student suicide, coupled with National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showing thousands of annual student suicides from academic and social pressure, exposes a serious structural and ethical crisis in India’s schools.

The Nature of the Crisis in the Education System

• Beyond Schools: While accountability should be fixed when a school is at fault, blaming only the school ignores the systemic challenges.
• Crisis of Value: The root issue is a Value Crisis referred to sociologically as Anomie (Normlessness), a concept introduced by Émile Durkheim, describing a situation where old values are breaking down
  • Old Values Fading: Respect, discipline, hierarchy.
  • New Values Rising: Individualism, personal freedom.
  • The Clash: A conflict exists between the traditional schooling system (which upholds old values like strict discipline) and the modern home environment of busy working parents (who often emphasize new values like freedom and self-focus). This confusion negatively affects the child’s personality.

Commodification and Ethical Issues

• Clash between Objectivity and Emotion: A major ethical conflict in today’s education system arises from the clash between Objectivity and Emotion. 
  • Parents often accept their child’s version of events at emotional “face value,” without considering the teacher’s perspective.
• PTMs as a Battleground: Parent–Teacher Meetings (PTM)  frequently turn into a tug of war.
  • Modern parents become defensive when teachers report misconduct, unintentionally undermining the teacher and reinforcing the child’s bad behaviour.
• Commodification: Education in many elite urban schools is increasingly shaped by market logic, where schools function as Service Providers and parents as Clients.
• Teacher Status: Teachers are reduced to employees tasked with ensuring customer satisfaction. 
  • This emphasis sidelines the deeper purpose of education—character building.
• Philosophical Concern: This service model contradicts Michael Sandel’s argument that certain realms, like education, must remain free from market norms.

Societal Influence and Digital Discipline

• Schools as Learning grounds: Schools are seen as a microcosm of society. 
  • According to Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, children imitate what they see, which often includes violence and negative content from social media.
• Worsening Issues: Behavioural issues like self-harm, anger, ego, aggression, and frustration, which were once prevalent only among teenagers, are now increasingly common in younger children.
• Rights vs. Discipline: While student awareness of rights is positive, it can be misused to disrupt class or disrespect teachers under the guise of freedom of speech.
• Narcissism: Children who spend excessive time on screens at home (lacking digital discipline) often seek constant validation, likes, and comments, leading to self-obsession and narcissism

Way Forward

• Collective responsibility: Children cannot raise themselves. Real change requires collective responsibility, echoing the African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child.”
• Parents Teacher Cooperation: Ending the blame game between schools and parents and building trust between parents and teachers.
• Teacher Empowerment: Restoring teachers to the status of Guru, not service provider.
• Active Parenting : Parents prioritising value-building at home and recognising that paying fees does not replace responsibility.

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Conclusion

The education crisis, prioritizing parent satisfaction over character building, is like watering leaves while ignoring roots; schools must focus on children’s long-term well-being and character to ensure a stable foundation.

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