Exam fever

Currently most families with young children in India are under the grip of a serious malaise called examination fever. Its annual exam time in most schools, and all stake holders are severly affected. Students, teachers, parents, private tutors, evaluators, everybody is gripped by exam performance anxiety. Its no longer confined to the examinee alone, it spreads to all those who come in touch with him/her, including relatives and neighbours.

Its no laughing matter, this. I am sure no where in the world is this malaise so powerful and pronounced as in our country. We are a studies obsessed nation. Here a child's worth is evaluated by his/her last exam result, not by what he/she is capable of. No matter what the child's other talents may be, if he/she fails (God forbid!) to secure at least "pass" marks in all subjects, which are as varied as Geography to Geometry, he/she becomes a social outcast. No one wants to be associated with the child anymore, not friends nor teachers. Parents become socially boycotted overnight. Haven't they failed in the most important duty of their lives - of bringing up scholarly children? Surely they are irresponsible or have neglected their roles as parents!

Reams of paper have been wasted arguing about the loopholes in the existing examination system, yet it still remains the touchstone of success in a student's life. Anxiety of performance, panic attacks, physical discomforts, nervous breakdowns, are common among our young examinees, who struggle to deal with the load of expectations thrust upon them. And I'm sure, after the exams are over, no one can even recall the matter they were forced to stuff their brains with. What really is the purpose of such force-feeding of data and knowledge? Does it equip the child to cope with life better? Does recollecting matter in the exam hall really mean internalizing learning?

When will this whole rigmarole stop, and we switch over to a more humane system of evaluating learning? Till then, God save our children!