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Help poor students cope with reality

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-16 07:46

Yang Yuanyuan, a 30-year-old postgraduate student of Shanghai Maritime University, committed suicide on Nov 26 because the university refused to provide housing for her mother. The tragedy highlights the mental condition of students struggling in poverty, says an article in Changjiang Daily. Excerpts:

For many poor students, education is the only path to a better future. Yang Yuanyuan, a 30-year-old postgraduate student who killed herself on Nov 26, was one of them.

Yang was born in a poor single-parent family. She earned her bachelor's degree from Wuhan University, which reportedly also offered accommodation to her mother because she was too poor to pay for her separate lodging as well as her daughter's tuition fees.

Following her graduation, however, Yang realized that the gap between her expectations and reality was formidable.

After failing to get a job, she decided to continue her studies and get a higher degree, which could heighten her prospects in the employment market. But after enrolling in Shanghai Maritime University, her dreams were shattered when the university refused to provide a bed for her mother in its dormitory.

A dejected and depressed Yang then committed suicide.

After her death, her brother, cousin, uncle and grandmother visited the university to seek an explanation and about 350,000 yuan ($51,264) as compensation to buy an apartment for her mother. The question is: If Yang had so many relatives, why hadn't any of them invite her mother to stay with them?

The core problem with Yang was her dependence on her mother. Returning to college or university is not the best choice for a poor student such as Yang. She could have looked after her family had she got a job.

Apart from not accepting reality, Yan, according to her relatives, could not stay away from her mother. She didn't communicate with other people.

Some people think it's cruel to turn down the request for compensation that could help such an ill-fated family. But the question here is the mental state of millions of poor students.

They should not be guided the wrong way to take advantage of their condition and seek economic benefits.

What needs to be done urgently is to take steps to improve their mental health and self-controlling ability.

(China Daily 12/16/2009 page9)