English education triggers suicides, murders : Mumbai Commissioner

January 3, 2013    

Margashirsha Krushnapaksha Shashti,Kaliyug Varsha 5114

Mumbai : Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh says there is a direct link between school and college education and murders and suicides, and students who study in English-medium institutions are especially vulnerable.

“In Mumbai, if there are 150 murders, there are eight times (more) suicides. All of the perpetrators are educated people. I have never seen an uneducated person committing suicide. I have researched this even while I was police commissioner in Pune. There were engineers and IT professionals committing suicide,” Singh is reported to have said at the 54th Foundation Day ceremony at the Bharat Merchants’ Chamber in Kalbadevi on Tuesday.

“Most suicides,” Singh reportedly said, “are committed by those who have studied in the English medium. I have never heard of or seen a Sanskrit-medium educated person committing suicide. And it is a known fact that more and more people are today sending their children to English-medium schools”.

Singh blamed crime in cities like Mumbai and Delhi on flaws in the education system.

“Jo Delhi ka case hua ya phir Mumbai ke andar jo case hote hain, uske peechhe bhi jo... isko main sanskriti nahin kehta, usko main asanskriti bolta hoon... woh asanskriti ka parinaam hai... Hamare schools aur college ke andar jo shiksha di jaati hai... sanskaarheen shiksha di jaati hai. Jeevangun koi sikhaata nahin hai. (What has happened in Delhi or what happens in Mumbai, it is the consequence of the absence of culture. The education that is imparted in our schools and colleges is devoid of cultural content. Life values are not taught.)”

Rajiv Singhal, trustee of the Bharat Merchants’ Chamber, confirmed the police commissioner’s statements.

“Mr Singh said in his speech that most suicides and crimes were committed by the educated section of society. He also said that there needs to be a study of the educational system, where a closer look needs to be taken at the education that is being imparted to students,” Singhal said.

Singh has criticised India’s education system earlier. In August 2009, he posted a blog titled ‘Growing Literacy, Falling Education’, in which he called the system “inadequate”.

Source : FinancialExpress