Chinese teen’s suicide puts crushing academic pressure in the spotlight

A heart-wrenching suicide note left by an 18-year-old girl who killed herself in April has reignited discussion online about the heavy academic burden placed on children in China.

In the letter, the girl – who was in her final year at a top high school in Bengbu, a city in the central province of Anhui – wrote about the pressure she felt to do well and said she had been broken by relentless exams, particularly maths and physics.