In July 2022, news about the suicide of 17-year-old Lachin Rzayeva in Nakhchivan shook Azerbaijani society. Lachin, whose father told her to "kill yourself before I come home from work," ended her life after publishing an open letter on her Instagram account.

"The answers to the entrance exams came out yesterday. My exam results are low. At home, my family was very angry with me. The biggest reaction was from my father. Even before going to work this morning, he told me, "Hang yourself until I get home from work. I can't stand this attitude anymore. And I will do as my father said. It's enough. This exam is not the end of the world or not my last chance at life. Unfortunately, my family does not understand this. I give my dead body as a gift to my family who do not understand me. Everyone loves a successful child. You should have loved me even with my failure. You couldn't. The tears behind me have no meaning... I am no longer existing. Goodbye."

Despite sparking a hot discussion in society at that time, the incident was quickly forgotten. A criminal case started in the Sharur District Prosecutor's Office and the parents were brought to criminal responsibility but no information about the outcome of the process was shared with the public.

The university entrance exam is a stressful period for every high school graduate. But in Azerbaijan it is more unbearable thanks to society and families. In the period before and after the exam, hundreds of students experience psychological shock and receive traumas that will leave deep traces in their later lives.

Thirty-two-year-old lawyer Ali Fataliyev is one of them.

Although many years have passed since his university entrance exams, the unpleasant memories remain.

"My childhood and youth were full of pressure from my family and environment. It became terrible that my family and relatives constantly compared me with other people's children, and I was subjected to psychological and physical violence when I failed,” he says. 

"Since I was young, my family constantly told me ‘your neighbour's son studies well, why can't you be like him?’ Rather than creating a competitive environment for me, this situation constantly made me feel inadequate and unnecessary. When I was expected to succeed in the exams, the psychological pressure increased when I failed. My father constantly humiliated me when I failed. To be honest, I didn't want him to understand me anymore, I just wanted him not to see me, to take his eyes off me."

It was more than just psychological pressure. Ali recalls being beaten with a belt. 

"As a result of this abuse, I constantly felt guilty and inadequate. At one time, I even had the idea of harming myself,” he says.

There are no official statistics about how many school-aged children commit suicide, however, dozens of similar cases are reported in the media every year following the national exams.

The exam and preparation process, which is inherently stressful, is more difficult and intense as a result of the pressures of parents and society.

Although primary and secondary education is free in public schools, 9th, 10th and 11th-grade students—regardless of their parents’ income and social class—hire private tutors to prepare for university entrance exams. The cost makes children feel obligated to do well.

Aghgul Feyziyeva has seen the cost of this pressure first-hand. During her first year as a teacher in one of the remote regions in 2017, one of the students hung herself.  

Aghgul recalls how the girl used to shake. “I told her the exam result is not the end,” she says. “But it seems that the words of the teacher are not enough to soften this process for the students who are under heavy pressure. The educational system of Azerbaijan is based only on teaching and the student reaching the maximum possible success. Teachers and pedagogical staff are not sufficiently interested in the inner world of children.”

Sevil Rzayeva, a graduate of the Academy of Arts, remembers how she was bullied by students and teachers at school—and her mother and relatives at home. Her parents, who work in the film industry, wanted her to be a director. She wanted to be a painter.

"My mother always tried to convince me that I didn't study well, that I would bring shame to our family by getting low grades. She thought that I wanted to paint not because I had a dream and ability, but because I had a low passing score,” she recalls. “I only had the anxiety of what could happen after not being accepted."

Psychologist Aytaj Guliyeva says that there are many reasons why children experience stress during exams, including pressure from their parents.

"Parenting attitudes, such as authoritarian, overprotective or perfectionist parents, cause anxiety. The fact that the family, school, and teachers have unrealistic expectations about the student also increases the student's anxiety. Children believe that if they fail an exam, they will be negatively judged,” she says. “They believe that when they prove their success, they will gain more respect and value from society. That's why they describe failing the exam as ‘the end of the world, a disaster.’”

Education specialist Zumrüd Alizadeh says that many psychologists in Azerbaijani schools view parental pressure as the parent's support for the child's education and see student stress as teenage histrionics.

"Despite the increasing number of suicide cases in the Azerbaijani education system in recent years, there is a completely indifferent attitude,” she says. “Not only are there no steps being taken to solve the problem, what is happening is not even seen as a problem even though the cases of suicide attempts and suicides, which are spread in the media after the exam every year or spread by word of mouth, are discussed by society. The Ministry of Education remains silent. That is at least as tragic as the events themselves.”

Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev said in one of his interviews with the local media that he was saddened by the news about applicants who committed suicide, and that the cases in question are being investigated by the prosecutor's office.

The Ministry of Science and Education told Chai Khana that school psychologists provide the only suicide prevention efforts available to pupils. There are no–and never have been–any formal anti-suicide projects for pupils, teachers or parents at any educational facilities in Azerbaijan.