Past the gates of Ecole Belge de Kigali on a notice board is an image of Shahin Alinejad and the words RIP above it. The senior one student died last week. Allegations abound that Alinejad committed suicide following poor academic performance.However, the school management and students are not willing to speculate on the cause of death or even comment on it, although a source said Alinejad was not under pressure as previously reported and that much of what the rumours said are false. "He is not Indian as was reported and he was not stressed, it began as a game but ended tragically,” the source said, asking to remain anonymous.Police said they were expecting post-mortem results to determine the cause of death."We are waiting for a postmortem report before coming to a conclusion of what could have led to his death,” Urbain Mwiseneza, the Police spokesperson for Kigali, said.Allegations that the deceased committed suicide because of stress from poor performance has left many parents and teachers questioning how they deal with students who do not perform well in school. The pressure heaped upon students might be too much to bear and could cause them to have esteem issues, and at times, end tragically.Devota Uwase, a working mother of two, said the incident caused her to re-evaluate how she had been dealing with her son’s report from school."At times the report card can cause you to forget for a moment that children’s emotions are still tender. You could easily get carried away by your disappointment and shout at them or say things you don’t really mean and by the time you can explain yourself to them, it has a lasting impression on them,” Uwase said.Self-esteemEdith Birungi, a teacher at Kigali Christian School, said dealing with poor performance is stressful."When a student or pupil does not perform as expected, at times parents and teachers may put them under pressure or treat them like they are already a failure. This causes them to sink deeper because they begin to have low self-esteem issues and feel inferior. At times you find them isolating themselves,” Birungi said.The teacher advised that the standard way to deal with performance that falls below expectations is to try and understand the challenges they may be facing."Try and understand the reasons for their poor performance before rebuking them. Understand if they have issues that make them uncomfortable in class or why they are not at par with their classmates,” she said.The role of societyMarie Kayitare, a former teacher, said pressure related to poor performance has long term effect on students and pupils."It is true parents will shout at their kids and even reward their siblings and leave out the poor ‘performer’. They will make comments like "why are you not like others?”  When students begin feeling inferior to their classmates, it not only affects their performance but also their social life in and out of school. They will not even be keen on developing their talents,” she said.Kayitare believes one’s performance should be dealt with individually and not by generalising them. Another parent, Richard Muramira, said emphasis that education is the only path to success is to blame for stress and pressure and the actions that the learners may take. "Society has for long emphasised on education and not other abilities that learners have. We don’t consider their talents or their backgrounds while emphasising the importance of education,” Muramira said.If the post-mortem and investigations prove that Alinejad committed suicide, it would only mean the notion that parents and teachers should re-evaluate how they weigh performance and deal with it is long overdue.