The air was thick with
tension. The countdown had begun. Like everyone else, I stared at the computer
screen anxiously. A message popped on the screen. This was it. The moment was
finally here! “Open it!” exclaimed my parents (and half of the neighborhood).
If you’re thinking we were watching a
India- Pakistan cricket match or awaiting the election results, then you’re
wrong my friend. It was a more serious
matter. In fact, the most serious matter among Indians. The 10th
class board results.
Indian parents get offended when the neighbor’s kid gets higher marks than their own kid because all of a sudden it becomes a matter of dignity. The phone’s constantly ringing with prying relatives wanting to know how much the kid scored. And this is not where it ends. I remember a friend of mine who scored 92% in her board exams but was unhappy because her parents weren't satisfied and thought she should’ve (“could’ve” would’ve sounded more encouraging, eh?) scored 95%.
No wonder in India, we've lost more lives to exams than to wars. WHY? Only because we fail to realize that marks do not measure intelligence. If you put in efforts, you’ll get good marks. If you stop putting efforts, you won’t get good marks. If intelligence was to be measured by marks (and marks can merely fluctuate anytime) then we would spend our whole life wavering between “I am dumb” and “I am smart”. Just like Einstein said “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted, counts.” And what our education system and parents do not count is other abilities and natural talents of the students, the ones not prescribed in the syllabus and not numbered in textbooks.
Don’t give the attention your kid requires to your neighbor’s kid. He’s made for something and your kid’s made for something completely different. Something, which marks alone won’t and will never decide.
- Arushi Sharma
Indian parents get offended when the neighbor’s kid gets higher marks than their own kid because all of a sudden it becomes a matter of dignity. The phone’s constantly ringing with prying relatives wanting to know how much the kid scored. And this is not where it ends. I remember a friend of mine who scored 92% in her board exams but was unhappy because her parents weren't satisfied and thought she should’ve (“could’ve” would’ve sounded more encouraging, eh?) scored 95%.
No wonder in India, we've lost more lives to exams than to wars. WHY? Only because we fail to realize that marks do not measure intelligence. If you put in efforts, you’ll get good marks. If you stop putting efforts, you won’t get good marks. If intelligence was to be measured by marks (and marks can merely fluctuate anytime) then we would spend our whole life wavering between “I am dumb” and “I am smart”. Just like Einstein said “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted, counts.” And what our education system and parents do not count is other abilities and natural talents of the students, the ones not prescribed in the syllabus and not numbered in textbooks.
Don’t give the attention your kid requires to your neighbor’s kid. He’s made for something and your kid’s made for something completely different. Something, which marks alone won’t and will never decide.
- Arushi Sharma
Ya vry much true I hve see many of my friends going through this! Parents should understand their child's calibre
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree with your view point! :)
ReplyDeleteWell written! There IS more to one's IQ than school marks!
ReplyDeleteso true! parents should be happy with what there child could do in exams.
ReplyDeletewell expressed in words! :)
i hope it changes the way people think aboy marks and IQ. :)
ReplyDelete<3
ReplyDeletemore lives being lost to today's education system than to the wars n cease fires, or terrorist attacks... and how haven't people noticed it? oh wait they have! the kids have! only their 'views' don't matter (('views')) what matters is their marks and the 'potential' because apparently our marks decide where we will be in ten years.
And an ever more messed up aspect is, that today we are taught calculus, trig, animal sociology, etc, but what about doing taxes, human relationship, T&C n how people con you and take away everything you have.. because I get how trig can be useful, but a child growing up without such necessities, morals, life skills, and these 'acquired' skills will later in life suffer in one way or another, because s/he was never taught the important aspects but only how to be a memorizing machine..