The Hidden Toll Of Kashmir's 'Survival Of The Fittest' Education

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer)
KO file photo by Abid Bhat

By Peerzada Mohsin Shafi

In Kashmir, a child's birth brings endless joy. But the moment that child walks into school, something changes.

Suddenly, they are measured, compared, and pushed to compete. School stops being just a place to learn. It becomes a battleground where even five-year-olds find themselves running a race they never agreed to.

What was once pure joy turns into pressure to be productive, focused, and competitive. Being happy isn't enough anymore.

From early on, kids are taught life is about proving their worth.“Work hard or get left behind” is the message, and“survival of the fittest” stops being a biology lesson and becomes a harsh reality drilled into their minds by parents, teachers, and society.

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Here in Kashmir, this idea is even more strict. Our society has fixed academic milestones as the only way to measure a child's future.

Class 10 board exams become the first big judgment day. The marks kids earn get picked apart and compared, defining their entire academic identity.

Class 12 is the second, bigger test, where kids are told whether they will“make it” or“fail.”

But“making it” means something very specific: top grades, cracking tough exams like NEET or IIT-JEE, and landing a government job. Only then is someone seen as truly successful.

This narrow view leaves no room for creativity, happiness, or even individuality. Every child has to squeeze through the same small tunnel no matter who they are or what they dream of. And it's damaging.

What starts as encouragement becomes pressure. The joy of learning disappears, replaced by anxiety and fear. We see more and more students breaking down-mentally, emotionally, and sometimes physically. Rising suicide rates linked to exam stress are not isolated. They show a system that is broken.

Recently, two young kids in Kashmir faked their own kidnapping just to escape school pressure. When children fear school so much they run away, we have to ask: what are we doing wrong?

Looking back on my own school days, I feel angry and sometimes bitterly amused. It's not just teachers to blame, though some methods were harsh. The system itself is flawed.

I remember standing in morning assemblies being punished for not saying prayers loudly enough. Teachers hitting kids for small things like a late arrival or a messy uniform was normal. Those memories still hurt.

Honestly, striking a six-year-old because their uniform isn't clean is not discipline. It shows a deeper problem with how adults see kids.

If teachers think violence is the answer, they need more than training. They need real help. The same teachers who could be so harsh would then tell us how to succeed in life and be good people. That contradiction hurts.

And it's not just in schools. Parents have also learned this culture of punishment. A six-year-old who wants to skip school because they are tired or scared often gets beaten or scolded. No one listens to their fears or feelings. Their tears are ignored.

My younger brother once told my six-month-old baby,“You're a king now, but soon a frustrated teacher will force you to do homework, punish you for tiny mistakes, and drain the joy out of learning.”

It's a sad joke between us, half humour, half truth. Because the system doesn't reward curiosity, creativity, or emotion. It rewards compliance.

Success, as our system defines it, is measured by marks. Kids stress over half a mark difference, a number that doesn't say anything real about their ability or future.

Instead of nurturing them, we're making them anxious. Instead of building character, we're training obedience. This is not education. It's endurance.

We say we believe in God's plan, yet we act like everything depends on test scores. But life is not a race against others. It's about finding who we are, what we can give, and how we grow.

Every child is born with a unique purpose. Some are artists, some thinkers, some healers. Reducing their value to marks on paper is unfair and cruel.

It's time to change how we define success. Let's raise children to be kind, curious, and confident, not just competitive. Let's measure worth in meaning, not marks. Let's stop comparing children and start nurturing their potential.

The idea of“survival of the fittest” doesn't belong in a community that values compassion and faith. True success comes from resilience, purpose, and peace of mind. If we let our children grow instead of making them compete endlessly, we might finally earn the right to call them kings again.

• The author is a research scholar and columnist from Anantnag who writes on education, society and culture.

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