The results for Classes 10 and 12 from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Tamil Nadu State Board of School Examinations, and several other state boards, were announced recently. Print, electronic, and social media have celebrated and glorified top scorers and conducted interviews with them, featuring them prominently. With the results of the NEET UG and the JEE Advanced to be announced in early June, the top rankers will be celebrated and interviewed.
In many families, these stories spark comparisons, with parents often measuring their children’s performance against their peers. Such conversations are becoming increasingly common.
Mother: “Our neighbour’s daughter got A+ grades in all her subjects, but you…”
Son: “I got A+ grades in everything except language.”
Mother: “If you had studied harder, you could have secured a rank.”
Father (to daughter): “What’s wrong with you? We thought you would get good marks and make us proud, but you let us down. Our dream of you becoming a doctor is shattered. Everyone — relatives, friends, neighbours, and colleagues — will ask us about your marks. As a parent, I don’t know how I’m going to face them.”
Unrealistic expectations
Parents often harbour unrealistic expectations, desiring their children to pursue their own dreams without considering that children have the right to have and pursue their own goals. Similarly, some teachers expect miracles from their students, hoping for top rankings at the district or state level. Both teachers and parents frequently convey the message: “If you score high marks, you are a success. If you score low marks, you are a failure.” Some teachers even use slogans like “Achieve or perish” and “Shine or whine”, believing these can motivate students, without considering the potential negative impacts.
During exam result season, we also hear of failures and depression. Every year, many students take their own lives because of their marks. Just a week ago, a 17-year-old in Uttar Pradesh, reportedly upset about his exam results, committed suicide. According to another report, seven students from Telangana and four from Madhya Pradesh also took their lives due to their marks. There are likely many more unreported cases of suicides, depression, and mental health issues across the country.
Tragedy follows
Year after year, these tragic stories resurface, yet little seems to be done to investigate the causes of these incidents and reform the system. The two major causes of these tragedies — unrealistic expectations of parents and the prioritisation of marks over knowledge — are interlinked. Both place an unhealthy burden on students, leading to numerous detrimental effects on their mental health, well-being, and overall development. The relentless pressure to achieve high academic success leads to significant stress and anxiety among students, often resulting in mental health issues like depression and suicidal thoughts. Self-worth tied to academic performance can paralyse students by developing a fear of failure and discourage them from exploring new interests. It fosters unhealthy competition, isolates students from their peers and diminishes opportunities for mutual support.
By focusing solely on academic achievement, other crucial aspects of personal development, such as creativity and emotional intelligence, are neglected. Consequently, students who cannot meet these high expectations may develop a negative self-image, adversely affecting their confidence and self-esteem.
Privacy issues
Until a few years ago, schools used to display students’ examination results and marks on their notice boards. Recently, however, various state governments have instructed educational institutions to stop this practice. A few years ago, the Director of Matriculation Schools in Tamil Nadu issued a directive asking all schools to refrain from promoting select students by publishing their names and photographs on banners or in media advertisements. Displaying students’ marks on a school notice board without the consent of the students and their parents, or discussing students’ academic performance in public, especially in the presence of classmates or others, can have many negative effects. Students who have not performed well might face discrimination and humiliation, which can affect their mental health.
Every individual has privacy rights. No school or teacher has the right to reveal any student’s academic performance to anyone other than the student and their parents. Schools have a responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of students’ academic records. Unfortunately, teachers in some educational institutions seem to be unaware that breaching this confidentiality is an offence.
Parents should motivate their children to set goals and achieve them. Encouraging them to chase their dreams is good, but pressuring them to chase marks is not helpful in the long run. Children should not be made to believe that scoring high marks is everything in life. It is neither possible nor desirable for everyone to secure the first rank or to have a dream of getting admission into an AIIMS or an IIT. Parents should be educated to understand that those who secure high marks are not always more intelligent than those who score lower or do not secure ranks. Although exam scores can help secure seats in top institutions, marks are not always a yardstick for success in life.
Children should be encouraged to pursue their own dreams and compete with themselves, not with others. When they are motivated to compete with themselves, they start realising their potential and strive to achieve their dreams. It is crucial to promote a more balanced and supportive approach to education that values effort, growth, and well-rounded development over mere academic achievement.
The writer is an ELT resource person and education columnist. rayanal@yahoo.co.uk
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