The month of January brings a sense of a new beginning and joy, which is also a time to make resolutions and think about your goals for the year. Then comes the month of February, and students, especially those in the tenth and twelfth grades, face the anxiety of exams. Unfortunately, examinations create anxiety, so much so that it affects health, more specifically mental health of young children Also, as parents, we should not pressurise our children by setting up high goals. We should understand the capacity and capabilities of our children. We should also develop such qualities in our children which will help them to face any kind of critical situations in life. Therefore, resilience becomes very important, along with accepting your limitations, one must also understand that ‘Marks’ or A++ Grades are not the only benchmark of success; what matters is the development of your entire personality, and we need to drive this among young children.
I am thrilled that the New Education Policy has changed the entire examination pattern, where examinations don’t just depend on term-end performance and marks but are in the form of continuous assessment throughout the year. Many progressive universities, such as Symbiosis, have practiced this for years. We look at students’ performances throughout the year through various methods of examinations. It is never just a paper and pen examination that decides their performance but their all-round development is judged through the seminars that they deliver, their interaction with their peers, and their ability to coordinate well with their team mates over projects and assignments.
What matters is how well you have understood a subject, how much knowledge you have absorbed, and your ability to apply that knowledge for the betterment of Society.
I feel that the anxiety faced by students during these exam months, which leads to mental health problems, has to be identified as early as possible, and remedies and solutions need to be administered within time.
I am thrilled that the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra ji Modi has a session called ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’ and I have listened to many of these sessions, and the point he brings home is precisely this. He talks about building resilience and dealing with anxiety and how marks are not the only essential thing; overall development is important. I am happy that at the national level, the Prime Minister’s office has been driving this message but it is equally important for schools, colleges and, universities and parents to play a collective role in dealing with this phobia of examinations.
We need to focus on these aspects as we want our youth to be resilient, to be able to deal with issues that are critical, find solutions to problems faced by society, and not be limited by their own mental health issues. The demographic dividend that we are looking at with our large young population should not become a demographic disaster; it is ultimately in our hands to create this demographic dividend for our country.