The death of Ruchika Induma PERPETRATORS WHO EXERTED EXAM PRESSURE STILL AT LARGE

Parents entrust their children to schools with a great deal of faith in the principal and teachers. A school, therefore, should never be a place where a child feels unsafe. Whether a child experiences physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or mental distress within the school environment, such issues should never be hidden or ignored. When such incidents arise, the principal, as the chief authority of the school, must take immediate action. He carries great responsibility and is fully accountable. Ignoring such matters can contribute to the overall failure of the entire school system.

- By Prageeth Sampath Karunathilaka and Sudharika Gurusinghe

One of the key milestones in a child's life is successfully passing the GCE Ordinary Level examination. It is the responsibility of both teachers and the principal to provide proper guidance for this. However, there is no hard and fast rule that a child must achieve A9 results at the Ordinary Level Examination. This depends on the child’s own competence. Although the nine A’s goal was once a milestone for a child, it has now become a tool used to pressure education officials in a school, district, or province. As a result, children face severe mental distress, and in some cases, may even be driven to thoughts of suicide.

Ruchika Induma entered Mahinda Rajapaksa National School, Homagama, in 2022. She joined Grade 8 with countless hopes in her heart. Her main goal was to prepare well for the G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examination, a challenge she knew to be in the near future. Since she was good in her subjects, she did not attend tutoring classes, nor did she feel the need for that kind of service. Ruchika, who engaged in her education as a regular school student, faced a turning point in her life when she entered Grade 11 in 2025. As she began preparing for the Ordinary Level Examination, she worked diligently and remained committed to her studies.

However, her class teacher in Grade 11, who was also her mathematics teacher, constantly blamed her, saying that she was weak in mathematics. Ruchika confided in her mother that the teacher constantly scolded her and subjected her to mental pressure. She has suffered greatly due to humiliation and insults as a result of this teacher's behavior in the classroom. According to her mother, Ruchika had scored high marks in all her subjects except for mathematics.