What happened: Following the death of a LUMS sophomore student due to a cardiac arrest, many students from the institution took to social media to discuss the mounting academic stress they are experiencing as Pakistan witnesses it’s third Covid-19 wave. While the deceased’s family and friends have denied that the student was facing any academic stress, the incident prompted other students to talk about the pressure they are facing at university. Reacting to the news, a student wrote, “Just heard the news of a batch mate passing due to heart attack, probably academic stress. To all my fellows at LUMS, I know its very stressful here and the way we’re bombarded with workload and treated like robots by instructors, it’s tough.”
LUMS Alumni and enrolled students shared condolences and prayers for the deceased, as news of his demise became known.
Concerns: While speaking to PG on the condition of anonymity, a student of LUMS M.C stated, “Ever since the pandemic started, the pressure for students has increased by a 100 times. This is owed to the strategy used by the admin to maintain a certain standard where it is believed that good students can only be produced if you put as much pressure on them as possible. Since the start of the year students have had to face gruelling deadlines, inconsiderate TAs and professors and an admin that doesn’t listen.” “We’ve seen depressive episodes increase with several students having suicidal tendencies. Today we lost a student to a heart attack. I’m not making any claims that academic stress is what killed him but funny thing is his last status was how he was going to finish 10 chapters in time. We have had finals week before and people have tried to power through but with a pandemic and depression rampant in the student body it’s very difficult this time.”
As of yet, no news has emerged regarding what caused the young student to suffer a fatal heart attack.
The bigger picture: However, during the past year and a half, school and university students from the private and govt. sector have both voiced concerns regarding the education system, varying from mounting stress to negligence on campus in conducting exams and risking exposure of students to Covid-19. Conversations on mental health have also shown an upward trend during the pandemic, especially in regards to how educational institutes failed to adapt to meet students’ needs during such changing and challenging times.