… but parents are not satisfied with a just-pass score. In these fi ercely competitive times, parents do not want to settle for anything less than 90 %. Sadly, Pappu can’t dance to celebrate his average score even if he is happy with it
Hyderabad: For most of the older generation, report card day in school would bring memories of people saying, “Congratulations for scoring 1st division marks”, but for many of today’s students it means repeatedly hearing different versions of “Why only 70 per cent? You should work hard and get 90”. While scoring anything above 60 per cent was considered commendable around a decade ago, now parents and school managements refuse to settle for anything less than 90 % for each and every student. The result - a whole generation of students who are unhappy about their marks despite studying hard and even trying to excel in other activities.
The average school student, one who has
a circle of good friends, plays antakshari in the school bus, is in the school cricket team, secures around 60 or 70 per cent and is happy with it is very rare to fi nd now as the pressure of squeezing into the coveted 90 plus category is eating into students’ peace of mind and affecting their psyche. Nowadays, even those kids who closely fit the above description admit that they constantly try to study harder and harder to be one among the ‘toppers’.
Harshini T S S, a class IX student from the city said, “I usually score around 80 per cent in my exams but I am not happy with just 80. Even at home my parents tell me to work harder and not waste my time. I think it is very important these days to be in the 90 above group. If I get less than that in my board exams then I will be scared about my future.” She added, “At school too, teachers keep telling us to put in more effort and do better. I am sure they just want the best from us, but I have never heard a teacher say ‘It’s okay if you don’t score 90’.” The 90 plus frenzy with the large hoardings put up by schools advertising their toppers and the ever increasi n g cut off p e rc e n t - a g es of top c o l - leges, makes for the perfect formula to ensure that no student is at peace with his/her marks. Moreover, children as young as 13 to 15 are already thinking about performances at job interviews. Himaan Chatterjee, a class X student who scores around 65 to 70 per cent and is an active participant in school activities said, “I believe marks are very important for a good placement and a secure future. It is a very competitive world and now that I am in class X, I would try and concentrate more on academics than other events.” He further said, “Some people say that simply scoring 90 per cent will not help in job interviews, but I don’t believe that. We have been made to believe that the interviewer asks for our marks in exams and having a 90+ percentage is very important.”
Richard Joshua, another class IX student from a city school admitted that although he would be happy with a score of 70 or 80 per cent, the people around him would not let him be content. “I am fully aware that to do well in life it is important to have knowledge about other things as well and not just be good in studies. But the craze for a top percentage defi nitely infl uences my thinking too. If I study hard and score 80 per cent in my exams, I will be happy with the result because I will know that I did my best. But I am sure people will come and tell me to try harder next time for a 90 plus score and that will discourage me.”
Elaborating on the increase in pressure on students to excel in exams, Shamita Bhattacharya, principal of St Andrews school said, “The students who are happy with getting average marks after they put in their best efforts have become very rare to find now. Children are made to believe they have no choice but to be the best in academics. The parameters of measuring a good score have gone up and so have the cut offs of colleges, so students are just not happy even with 80 per cent. Every student, irrespective of whether he/she is capable of scoring a 90 or not, is pushed to the maximum limit.” Talking about the role parents have to play in this issue she said, “There are a few parents who are happy with whatever their child scores. Many parents just cannot accept the fact their child is probably not capable of being a topper but is good at other things. There have been cases when the child feels so pressured to make their parents happy that he resorted to unfair means to increase marks.”
Parents on the other hand blame the school system. S N Saheb, a manager at a pharmaceutical company and a parent of two said, “All children have different capabilities. Many students who score average marks but have good communication skills go on to be top level managers in big companies while many toppers end up at the mid-level posts. Schools these days are not letting the kids understand this. They just want their students to be toppers, but at what cost? They will not be able to tolerate failure and it will take a toll on their careers. I drive my children to do better than the previous exam but I don’t mind if they are not among the top ranks.”
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