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By Preeti Sharma
| Kamala Tyagi |
Scored above 80 per cent marks in Class XII and you thought that the job was over. No. the nightmare of late-night study hours and dreaming sky-high goals seems to be never ending. For the students the stress of performing well in the Board exams gets transformed into other tensions once the results are out.
With today´s education structure, scoring good marks in XII Board exams does not promise a bright future for the student. In order to build one, he is required to appear for many entrance exams, i.e. for engineering, medical and even for bachelor courses in various colleges. Questions like ´Where should I go?´ or ´Would I get admission in a prestigious college?´ or ´Will the course have enough market value to boost my career?´ hover over their 17-18-year-old minds all the time. The result is that students have to face unwelcome stress and hard work despite scoring good marks. In fact, maximum students fail to get admission in their college of choice or course and reluctantly opt for courses in which they have little or no interest.
Most of the stu-dents, even after scor-ing 85-90 per cent marks are not satisfied with their performance. The com-mon refrain among them is, ?I could do better?. ?Having passed the XII class examination and yet to get admission in the college, medical or engineering, is a crucial point in a student´s life,? says Kanika Tyagi, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pitam Pura, Delhi, who scored 93.6 per cent marks and topped the Delhi region. Knowing well enough that getting admission in a bachelor´s degree course in the university would land her nowhere in the career, she studied hard for two exams simultaneously. She prepared for the medical entrance exam along with her Board exams. She got selected in DPMT and stood 13th. ?I could not presume that as I have worked hard in my Board exams, success in a career would come easily to me. Constant hard work is always required. Now, as I am all set to do my MBBS, I would have to prepare for every semester examination also,? says Kanika.
Atul Garg, a student of Maharaja Agrasen Model School, who scored 90 per cent marks in the Board exams, does not opt to follow the college´s way. He has secured the 207th rank in IIT JEE and has taken admission in IIT, Roorkee. ?Yes, struggle is there, no doubt. But, I do not see my hard work in the Board exams as a waste. After all, my hard work and struggle will make me used to it and would polish my skills,? he stressed. ?There is no satisfaction level no matter how high marks one scores. We have to struggle a lot,? admitted Priyanka Agrawal, a student of the same school. She scored 89.8 per cent marks in the Board exams and aspires to do B.Sc. (Hons.) with physics from St. Stephen´s College.
Are exams the be all end all of life? ?Need not worry?, says Smt. Lata Vaidyanathan, Principal, Modern School. ?In the education cycle, we expect the students to be focused in their career. They should be clear on what they aspire to do. Hard work is absolutely mandatory on their part,? she said.
Shri Ikram-ul-Haq, Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pitam Pura, said that one should not ignore the positive side of stress. ?Once the student concentrates on regular study and distributes his workload throughout the year, he can overcome all the hurdles and can perform well in every exam,? he argued.
Smt. Vaidyanathan holds ?the non-collaborative syllabus? of the schools and IIT or medical entrance exams responsible for all the stress that arises in the minds of the students. ?The students have to strike a balance between both the syllabi and often have to do extra study. But, in today´s competitive world, where candidates are more than the seats, a certain amount of stress can be considered normal. It has become a global phenomenon. It was there in the past and will continue in the future. Well, the stress can be easily eased out in the supportive environment from both the school and home,? she pointed out.
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