Exams never come alone: there are sleepless nights, exaggerated expectations, and a pressure for perfection. “The responsibility to make children understand that top grades are not as important lies with the parents,” says Dr Ruby Ahuja, consultant psychologist with various city hospitals. “Sadly, many parents do the exact opposite.” She concedes that parents are not the only pressure points. Bright, young students are increasingly burying themselves under a self-created Grade A fixation.
Anxiety levels peak when it comes to applying for their favourite school and college. The ever-soaring cut-off percentages play a spoilsport. Sangeeta Chhabra, English teacher and CBSE counsellor, says: “Grades are not the only indicator of a student’s true potential. Motivation, keenness to learn, inter-personal skills, overall personality, interests and hobbies make up a student.”
Economics teacher Leena, from DAV Model School, Sector 15, Chandigarh, agrees: “We encourage our students to aim for overall personality development. Top grades or not and should not make a difference.”
A greater comfort is when teachers and society don’t judge you solely on the basis of your scores. “At age 17 or 18, it is just impossible to predict where I will be at 40. I feel a lot depends on how I deal with life situations like examinations,” says Piyush Jain, a Class XII student.
Says his classmate Richa Sharma adds: “I got a poor score in my Class X. I felt lost. Now when I look back, it suddenly appears not that important. I have done well in my Class XI and hope to get good marks in Class XII.” Maths teacher Nidhi says: “I know some of my colleagues were not very good students themselves. There are teachers who, as students, even failed some of the most important exams, but went on to become good educationists. There is life beyond grades.”
The point is, she says, “we need to be supportive of our children no matter what their score card reads like. It is going to be tough but it is not impossible.”
“Our education system needs an overhaul,” says science teacher Sharmila Sharma. “As a teacher, I have never really bothered if my students get an ‘A’ or a ‘B’. Everybody has a chance to start afresh.”
Mar 6, 2016.After all, life begins beyond grades.The Tribune.retrieved from
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/perspective/after-all-life-begins-beyond-grades/205210.html
