Today, the CBSE- Central Board of Secondary Education results came out and my cousin scored a whopping 94%. YES! 94 percentile. When everybody called him up for congratulations, he seemed a little dejected saying he had expected at least 98%. We were shocked. Here's a bright kid who has scored marks in the 90 percentile and still feels he could have upped his score a little more.
What are we turning our kids into? Why is the Educational system demanding such high standards from youngsters who are running after "numbers" rather than concentrating on the knowledge they gather for their lifetime? Are we enforcing an "only marks" system, whereupon if someone scores in 80 percentile should totally feel like a criminal for not making it to the 90 percentile group? I remember my Board Examination results from 11 years ago- a decade, where the system of announcing toppers in the state and city was prevalent and often resulted in a depressing time for so many kids. I felt extremely insecure every year when the Board results would be out and the marks would just seem to skyrocket, leaving so many kids unhappy over their 70-80 percent score. It also resulted in a lot of post-result suicides. That system was thankfully got rid of in a couple of years, but by then, the kids scoring a 100 percentile result took roots.
The pressure of being a 90 percentile kid was never enforced on us by our parents who demanded a good score but with the basic knowledge of being able to address a scientific thirst in our lives. We had a more learning based schooling, which never was identified by multiple-option question papers unlike today. The emphasis to write essays, valuing social sciences and original thinking were part of the school curriculum. No doubt it also failed a lot of students who could not raise to those standards, but it was a lot better than just passing and promoting students till 8th grade, so that they won't be pressurized for scoring high marks in today's higher secondary education system. When I see students these days buried in books with objective answer patterns, and not being able to voice their thoughts without jumbling their words, it makes a sad sight. This is clearly nurturing a culture of bookworms, wherein children only learn lessons but do not necessarily absorb the essential morals, values, knowledge meant to develop their holistic and rational thinking skills. We are raising an army of nerds without actually nurturing their intellect for original sciences. No wonder India has been ranked lowest in Global Intellectual Property Index for the second consecutive year amongst the countries assessed for protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Practices.
If we intend to become a superpower nation in the 20 years or whenever, we must look after the dying educational system that creates degree holders without remarkedly producing people who would benefit their nation through their innovation, and engineering supremacy. The human right to Education needs to be emphasized through good teachers who inspire children to move beyond marks/credits and look forward to a fulfilling life of knowledge and morals making them a powerhouse that sustains their nation.
What are we turning our kids into? Why is the Educational system demanding such high standards from youngsters who are running after "numbers" rather than concentrating on the knowledge they gather for their lifetime? Are we enforcing an "only marks" system, whereupon if someone scores in 80 percentile should totally feel like a criminal for not making it to the 90 percentile group? I remember my Board Examination results from 11 years ago- a decade, where the system of announcing toppers in the state and city was prevalent and often resulted in a depressing time for so many kids. I felt extremely insecure every year when the Board results would be out and the marks would just seem to skyrocket, leaving so many kids unhappy over their 70-80 percent score. It also resulted in a lot of post-result suicides. That system was thankfully got rid of in a couple of years, but by then, the kids scoring a 100 percentile result took roots.
The pressure of being a 90 percentile kid was never enforced on us by our parents who demanded a good score but with the basic knowledge of being able to address a scientific thirst in our lives. We had a more learning based schooling, which never was identified by multiple-option question papers unlike today. The emphasis to write essays, valuing social sciences and original thinking were part of the school curriculum. No doubt it also failed a lot of students who could not raise to those standards, but it was a lot better than just passing and promoting students till 8th grade, so that they won't be pressurized for scoring high marks in today's higher secondary education system. When I see students these days buried in books with objective answer patterns, and not being able to voice their thoughts without jumbling their words, it makes a sad sight. This is clearly nurturing a culture of bookworms, wherein children only learn lessons but do not necessarily absorb the essential morals, values, knowledge meant to develop their holistic and rational thinking skills. We are raising an army of nerds without actually nurturing their intellect for original sciences. No wonder India has been ranked lowest in Global Intellectual Property Index for the second consecutive year amongst the countries assessed for protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Practices.
If we intend to become a superpower nation in the 20 years or whenever, we must look after the dying educational system that creates degree holders without remarkedly producing people who would benefit their nation through their innovation, and engineering supremacy. The human right to Education needs to be emphasized through good teachers who inspire children to move beyond marks/credits and look forward to a fulfilling life of knowledge and morals making them a powerhouse that sustains their nation.
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