Pricking Children with Percentage?

Come the month when exam results are out, a volley of comparisons and criticism of children start, putting them in a miserable condition. There is a tooth-and-nail competition out there making the children’s mental state fall into pieces under parental and peer pressure. The stronger ones survive and sail through the situation while the weaker section, sometimes goes to that extent of putting a full stop to their own lives. Well! Let us sit back and think! Do exam percentages determine a child’s intelligence? Does getting a perfect score say that your ward is one amongst the best and he would be able to face all the challenges put forth to him by life? Does failing in an exam means that a child can be branded as a failure in life?    

                Of course, higher grades are definitely one of the criteria to settle down in life easily but it definitely does not determine one’s capability. Are those children who come out with flying colors in their exams, really future- ready? The answer is a big NO!

               An excellent example to cite is a recent news article which flashed across the newspapers of about 50 students from the same school in Erode, Tamil Nadu, getting admission to the prestigious institution Lady Sri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi. When questioned about the basics of the subjects in which they had very high scores, most of their answers were highly unsatisfactory. In a quest to obtain high percentages a student’s meaning of examination has totally changed. Exams should be seen as a means of testing one’s acquirement of knowledge and not a meaningless reproduction of the study materials available in the market. Instead of being an enjoyable process of being tested, examination system has turned out to be a mark- churning process.

                Another example which can be cited about how brittle students are who crack the IIT and JEE entrance exams are the Kota suicide cases. In a bid to get high marks these students succumb to high mental pressure, which prompts them to end their valuable lives. The movies like ‘ 3 Idiots’ and ‘Taare Zammen Pe’ rightly point out that each student has their unique talent  and it is atrocious to judge them only by their marks.

             The Bihar topper scam is another excellent example which throws light on how a topper can be a below average student. The student involved in the scam could not even pronounce the subject properly, even though she was the topper in the same.

Some tips to unload children off the examination pressure:

·         Keep the level of distractions to the minimum by providing him a quiet atmosphere to study.

·         Keep saying encouraging words and remind him constantly that he is unique.

·         Offer to draft a time planner for him to study so that he is not overloaded.

·         See to it that he gets ample refreshing time in between his study schedule, like going out and having fun with his friends.

·         Never make the child feel that you are expecting too much from him.

·         Above all see to it that your child grows into a happy individual.

                       Exams should be visualized as a torch igniting a child’s motivation instead of a stress generator. A child should be presented with all kinds of options in which she would be likely interested rather than force him to complete the aspirations of his parents.

All said and done, it is the duty of the parents to fish out their child’s talent and provide them with a healthy atmosphere to pursue their dreams and showcase their interests instead of pricking them with percentages…