Students’ suicides send shock waves in Telangana. till Wednesday last 19 students had ended their lives for failing the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Examination. This has forced a concerned Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to order re-verification of answer scripts of the 300,000-odd unsuccessful candidates ‘free of cost.’ 

Besides, officials have been asked to complete the process at the earliest to ensure that students didn’t lose an academic year. Apparently, students suspect major lapses as large-scale irregularities have been noticed in the mark sheets. 
Shockingly, many students, who had scored over 90% in the 1st exam have failed the 2nd year test and worse complaints of students getting zero or one or two marks in various subjects has put officials in a tizzy. Of the total 4,09,133 students appearing in 1st year exam only 2,47,407 passed and likewise in 2nd year of the 3,82,534 students, only 2,47,755 were cleared! 
The suicides have had the High Court step in too, directing the Board to re-evaluate answer scripts. Rather the system must be overhauled. Sooner the better, lest protests get louder and students suffer.