Examination-A test for parents and children alike

There is serious discussion taking place in the field of examination reforms. Last few years have seen many changes proposed and implemented.But that is mostly confined to school education and the higher education in the country remains almost unaffected by these changes. Many  people think that the policy makers should not treat this in isolation but a comprehensive approach is required if proper positive results are to be achieved.The policies say that no child will be detained or failed up to class VIII and in classes IX and X also the pattern of the question papers is such that almost all children should pass the so called examination. What happens in class XI when all of sudden the syllabus becomes elaborate and also the students have to pass in the examination.Will the children be ready for the exam when they had not be taking them very seriously in the lower classes? Naturally the people have their own opinion in this case also but in spite of trying to be ideal only the real situation should also be looked into seriously.
I can remember , twenty years back when the children were unsuccessful in class X and also in class XII  examinations and the family and the students used to take in the right perspective and there was no panic anywhere. It was rare that people came across any extreme step taken by the children. But so called reforms adopted by the progressive board made things such(in the name of making children stress free) that marks obtained by the children were not the real indicator of the learning done by the child.In our country marks are the indicators of the learning of a child which is not always right(rather false in most of the cases). The children started getting hundred marks in different subjects and even in languages as well.  Due to this, the students from other boards were at disadvantage so they also devised a new method of having internal marks in board examination and as expected the result improved and more number of the children were successful and accordingly it was thought that the stress of the children has reduced. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Even after taking this growth step, the number of cases reported taking extreme steps or going into depression have increased. One more important question asked is that more students  pass but does it really indicate that they have learnt better than what the children were learning before.Examination reforms alone may not improve the situation.Policy makers should think beyond and the syllabus and the teaching methodology should be redesigned and corrective measure to be taken.
Evey year during the months from March to May and June the school children have to face many examinations which include school based exam, board exams and the competitive examination conducted by government as well as private bodies. Look at the plight of these children and you will realise how much stress they are being through despite all the efforts made by the people who show concern for them. Having no stress up to class VIII and then all of a sudden  stress in the form of these exams might disturb children more than ever before. An example will be appropriate in this context. The children prepare for two to four years for one of the most prestigious entrance examination and that is IIT. They come to examination centres at eight o' clock in the morning and will have to go through the pain of writing the answer of the questions which  decide their eligibility to get admission in IITs . The agony they have to go through for the whole day because the exam is in two sessions on the same day is bothersome. It is not understood why this exam cannot be conducted on two different days so that the children are not under that much pressure.There are number of such examination and if the names of all competitive examinations are written then the article will be too lengthy ,so I leave it to you to deliberate more on this.
The board examinations are over in almost all the states and now the parents teachers and the students are waiting anxiously about the result. After the declaration of the result many will be happy and many will not be satisfied due to different reasons.In this case the parents should understand and make the children also to realise that whatever is the result, it should be taken in the right spirit and they should not be depressed or disheartened because this is not the only result which proves whether the child is progressive and successful. Passing board exam or for that matter any exam is not necessarily the proof of your being intelligent or not because most of our exam test knowledge and not the intelligence.The example of a mother can be quoted here, whose daughter was tensed and stressed on account of the forthcoming result. The daughter is a child with basic human virtues and looks after her grandparents,does the household chores and is also held in esteem by the relatives.When the mother noticed that the girl was tense she consoled her by saying that this result of being an ideal daughter is the actual result for us and not the result which will be declared by the board, thereby supporting the daughter morally.
The other example is of a parent whose son had appeared in IIT entrance exam and they were waiting for the result. The father one day had told the child that they would go out to have dinner on the day the result would be declared. On 16th June the result was declared and the child did not qualify. The parents themselves told their friends about this and told the child not to worry and as decided would go to have dinner outside with his friends. The child was surprised for a second but could understand that his parents had never forced him to get or achieve something extraordinary under pressure. The environment at the home was as normal as it could have been on the days when no result was to be declared.
In both the cases, it is clear that the parents can help their children the most. If they remain calm and look at other qualities of the child then this stress will automatically reduce and the children can decide the colour of skies on their own.

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