AFTER AN EXHILARATING HOLI, comes the boring and haunting board exam, the exam for which no amount of preparation gives an impression of sufficiency. Students across the nation get excited as well as depressed. They are ‘excitingly depressed’. Excited to give the final exam of their school life, to enter into a new world, and depressed thinking what society would say if their marks won't be that good. Sharma Ji’s meritorious child is making things worse.
While the level of questions asked in the exams has become easy these days, the quality of students being produced is decreasing, WhatsApp, Social Media and expansion of internet are to blame. The internet and smartphones may help students in their higher studies, but it misfires in case of younger kids. It only serves as a distraction, the biggest of modern times. Earlier, when kids go out to play some sports, it was treated as a distraction from studies. But now, it has been understood clearly that it wasn't seeing the present scenario when children play sports in mobile phones & computers and prefer to remain in the virtual world, the world in which they want to be lost in.
When a child gets in the reach of smartphones, it has wide social implications. Other kids, too, want the same. Smart devices are a full package of entertainment — from music, videos, games, messaging, and what not. Who on Earth would not like to have such package? Parents cannot deny their wish for long. Sooner or later, willingly or unwillingly, they have to fulfil their child's whim of owning a smart device. Some parents provide it with terms and conditions, only to be broken later.
Information is at fingertips, away from just a Google or DuckDuckGo search. That’s why its value has decreased drastically as obtaining it has become a lot easier. The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is on the rise globally, mainly because of the increasing usage of internet by pre-teenage and teenage groups. With the rapid digitalization and continual advancement in technology in which one-month-old latest gadgets become obsolete.
Deciding Fate With Marks
The symbol of being an excellent student is to score more than 95%, more than 90% are studious, more than 80% is average, less than 80% is below average, and you fail or somehow survive with less than 40%. The below 40% guys are treated as pests. They're regrets, a shame. Schools wish they should never have admitted those pests. Parents, howsoever scold their kids, at the end of the day, they have to tolerate them. Yes, we give too much importance to marks. This reduces education to rote-learning and mugging up lessons to fetch marks. Independent thinking, creativity is discouraged in the Indian education system.
Meanwhile, coaching centres and private institutes are preparing for their next batch of ‘bakras’ (to be sacrificed goats). The target is to get the more students than the previous year — forced engineering, medical or CA aspirant are still the top products. They do it with help of careful and intelligent marketing. The ones which couldn’t give good results are negotiating with topper students to make a sweet deal covertly. The students for the meagre amount of money sell their years of labour and help coaching centres to get some more bakras. It's not a joke.
Every child is special. The goal of education should be identifying that speciality. It should be done early. The new paths must be explored without fear of failure. We tend to choose the known paths where we found crowds. The more we go with the crowd, more we tend to be depressed later. A wide range of career prospects is the way to avoid depression.
During ‘big’ exams, students need psychological help more than academic help. There are multiple pressures involved, social pressure, peer pressure, the pressure put by Sharma uncle, etc. The psychological help need not be through professionals. Moral support by parents and teachers would suffice. My closing comment would be that, like Holi, the colours of board exams, too, is loaded with fun and excitement. Enjoy it. Live it. Nurture it. It is the moment you’ll cherish later in your life. By the end, you’ll only be left with memories. And try not to be influenced by Sharma family.
Also Read: CBSE Paper Leak — Another Marvel of Board Exam
This post is particularly written for the ones appearing or have appeared in the class 10th or 12th board exams presently being conducted by the CBSE.
amiteshgupta01@gmail.com
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