Should Class X Exams Become Optional?
Class 10 is one of the important year of a student's life. It is seen as a turning point that defines a student's future. The mark one obtains during these exams ensures his or her future as an engineer, doctor, lawyer or be it any other field. Since these exams are so important, pressure builds on students to perform well.
The school life that every student thought would was fun, suddenly starts getting to be a serious business. During this period, the parents are so obsessed with the fact that their child should score well, amount to extra pressure on poor kid's misery. Not only do they advise their children its seriousness but also they do not spare Gandhi, Nehru, Pythagoras or even Newton from it.
Not all blame be put on the parents; there is a large contribution from neighbors, relatives and people who know that a kid is in his 10th standard. All these pressures cause a student to feel the 10th exams are something that is very difficult to crack, which is not true.
Keeping in mind the pressures that a student has to go through, the current Union Government has come with the idea of making the 10th exams, which are considered "board exams" optional. However, is it necessary to do so? Making the board exams optional will result in students taking up their crucial period casually. This could make the student oblivious about the importance of exams since the subjects they made to involve in their 11th and 12th standards are entirely different from that of their 10th.
The 10th exams results give a student a fair idea of his/her strongest and weakest subjects with the help of which he can choose his/her desired subjects for the next course. By making the exams optional, we are depriving the child from the different experiences that he or she can obtain. How long are we going to keep children away from the seriousness of life? When will we make children mature enough to tolerate the pressures of life?
When students are in their 10th standard, they are at the right age to mold to take the crucial decision about their future or to set their ambition. We should make the students strong enough to face the challenges that life throws at them, not make them run away from it. Mr. Kapil Sibal, HRD minister has thought an easy way out by suggesting so. He is really missing the importance of the board exams. The feelings a student undergo during this period helps him/her pick a right direction to move forward.
By making the exams optional, Mr. Sibal is removing the fun of writing the exams, the healthy competition developed among students. If he wants to reduce the stress that a student undergoes during his/her 10th standard, he should do as follows:
- Ensure that the evaluators correct the papers reasonably
- Ensure no paper leaks
Most importantly, parents have to let their children make their choices not make choices for them. Help them guide to the right direction instead of scaring them about the exam. Do not compare your child with the other. Each child is special in his/her own way as shown in the movie" taare zameen par". Understanding a kid's abilities and guiding them in appropriate manner is the best thing that parents can give to their kids.
If Mr. Sibal has to reduce the stress level of any person, it should be that of the parents than the students. That would be the best way forward.
By
Lakshmi.J