Come July and it’s that time of the year when 17 and 18 year olds, fresh from the results and successes of their class XII and various entrance exams for courses in Medicine and Engineering look forward to their transition from ‘kids’ to ‘young men and women’. With school education and its importance registering phenomenal growths in the last few years, the scope of studying beyond school in elite engineering and medical colleges has also increased manifold.
Terms and abbreviations like AIEEE, IIT-JEE, PET, PMT, CBSE Medicals etc. are common during this period amongst students who have cleared their 10+2 with the sciences among their subjects of study. They vie for the best engineering or medical institutions such as the IITs or AIIMS in their quest for a fulfilling career and dreams. Students who may have studied the Arts or Commerce subjects are content to look for the best colleges in their respective states or cities or in their vicinity in accordance with their marks in their 10+2 or Board exams. It is also, remarkably, a very tough period for the young boys and girls who are suddenly bereft of the tough and distinctive cover of their uniforms (which may be considerably protective or considerably restrictive depending on how you look at it). They are no longer children and are on their way to being men and women, out in the open in the big bad world, joining ranks with people who have little time or thought to spare for their fellow brethren. It is festivities’ time in all colleges as the newest kids on the block face a completely different kind of educational environment, all fun to begin with. With ragging being a strict no no, the first days at colleges have never been more fun.
Ever thought about those girls and boys who failed to get past the goal post of class XII?! Or those who failed to make it to their cherished engineering or medical college?! And decide thereafter to sit for the exams once again…next year?! This year, felt by most students as a break in their continuity of studies, can be the most daunting one of their lives. As these students try to come to terms with their failure, it can get very lonely, very frustrating and downright annoying. Maladies arising out of this feeling of failure can range from alienation to severe depression as students are unable to reconcile to the fact that even if they do make it, they’ll be a year junior to their former classmates. And at home, life can be tough as in the early days of the repeating year, parents can sometimes be very harsh on their children. It is relieving to know that statistics do not point out that such children do not take drastic steps out of depression. In fact, if anything else, the introduction to failure so early in life only strengthens their resolve to make it. So much so, that these days it is considered absolutely natural if a child were to finish his class XII board examination first and sit for the medical/engineering entrance exams next year. The intervening year is usually one of intense preparation with coaching classes and private tuitions gaining precedence over any alternative plans.
With school performances (read passing percentages) reaching dizzying heights these days, the failures are treated as exceptions with the education system and the entire society attempting to find out where things went wrong. Compare this till the seventies or the eighties when 60% marks or first division was a enviable score and passing was still good enough to secure a decent job. Failure was treated with a casual attitude and if one had studied till 8th standard, that was enough to brand him or her as educated. Graduates were looked upon with proper respect and Post Graduates with the awe reserved for the first moon-landers. In comparison, students today score almost 100% and the concept of divisions is passé across exam boards across states. CBSE is unpretentious and awards the students with a simple ‘pass’ against the column ‘result’. It is when kids fail to achieve even this that things tend to go horribly wrong at times. Though far and few between, media does highlight incidences of children taking drastic steps, unable to tolerate failures. Ever crossed your mind as to what you could have done to stop such an act of desperation?! Here’s what you can do:
l Don’t rush to ask the child what his scores have been. To satisfy your curiosity, just wait a bit; if it’s a good result, chances are that the child will appear very happy and tell all about it by himself.
l Do not add to the gossip mill just before or after the tests. Poking around without anything to go by does not help the cause of the ‘failed’ child.
l Do not expose the child to over expectations by discussing what he plans to do after getting those gorgeous marks even before he has appeared for the test. Chances are that the child will remember only too well his ‘braggings’ when he fares poorer than expected.
l Do tell the child to make a very good effort to score well in his exams. Do not dwell on scores, emphasise on the significance of the effort ahead of the marks in the long run.
l If the child has managed to get selected, but not in the top institution or the institution of his/her choice, boost up the kid with “You’ve shown that you can do it, it is just a matter of time and opportunity now’.
l You can always tell the child examples of Bill Gates or Thomas Alva Edison who may formally not have been so highly educated yet went on to give mankind some of the greatest gifts of all time. Do not discuss this line of thought for too long. The child may actually switch his thoughts away from formal education.
l Tell the parents too that their child is brilliant in his own right, and the shine of this brilliance will appear in its own time irrespective of the institute that he completes his graduation from.
l Make an effort to learn about career options or alternatives that kids do discuss today. It is only then that the parents or the child will connect with you and your words. Else you will be no better than the hundreds of onlookers who have nothing to contribute except sneers and grins.
l And if you really have nothing to say, don’t say anything just for the sake of saying it. One wrong word and you will have damaged the child who is most vulnerable at this stage of his/her life.
l Always remember that it is important to encourage the child to put in his best effort; that will stead him more through his life than anything else.
Terms and abbreviations like AIEEE, IIT-JEE, PET, PMT, CBSE Medicals etc. are common during this period amongst students who have cleared their 10+2 with the sciences among their subjects of study. They vie for the best engineering or medical institutions such as the IITs or AIIMS in their quest for a fulfilling career and dreams. Students who may have studied the Arts or Commerce subjects are content to look for the best colleges in their respective states or cities or in their vicinity in accordance with their marks in their 10+2 or Board exams. It is also, remarkably, a very tough period for the young boys and girls who are suddenly bereft of the tough and distinctive cover of their uniforms (which may be considerably protective or considerably restrictive depending on how you look at it). They are no longer children and are on their way to being men and women, out in the open in the big bad world, joining ranks with people who have little time or thought to spare for their fellow brethren. It is festivities’ time in all colleges as the newest kids on the block face a completely different kind of educational environment, all fun to begin with. With ragging being a strict no no, the first days at colleges have never been more fun.
Ever thought about those girls and boys who failed to get past the goal post of class XII?! Or those who failed to make it to their cherished engineering or medical college?! And decide thereafter to sit for the exams once again…next year?! This year, felt by most students as a break in their continuity of studies, can be the most daunting one of their lives. As these students try to come to terms with their failure, it can get very lonely, very frustrating and downright annoying. Maladies arising out of this feeling of failure can range from alienation to severe depression as students are unable to reconcile to the fact that even if they do make it, they’ll be a year junior to their former classmates. And at home, life can be tough as in the early days of the repeating year, parents can sometimes be very harsh on their children. It is relieving to know that statistics do not point out that such children do not take drastic steps out of depression. In fact, if anything else, the introduction to failure so early in life only strengthens their resolve to make it. So much so, that these days it is considered absolutely natural if a child were to finish his class XII board examination first and sit for the medical/engineering entrance exams next year. The intervening year is usually one of intense preparation with coaching classes and private tuitions gaining precedence over any alternative plans.
With school performances (read passing percentages) reaching dizzying heights these days, the failures are treated as exceptions with the education system and the entire society attempting to find out where things went wrong. Compare this till the seventies or the eighties when 60% marks or first division was a enviable score and passing was still good enough to secure a decent job. Failure was treated with a casual attitude and if one had studied till 8th standard, that was enough to brand him or her as educated. Graduates were looked upon with proper respect and Post Graduates with the awe reserved for the first moon-landers. In comparison, students today score almost 100% and the concept of divisions is passé across exam boards across states. CBSE is unpretentious and awards the students with a simple ‘pass’ against the column ‘result’. It is when kids fail to achieve even this that things tend to go horribly wrong at times. Though far and few between, media does highlight incidences of children taking drastic steps, unable to tolerate failures. Ever crossed your mind as to what you could have done to stop such an act of desperation?! Here’s what you can do:
l Don’t rush to ask the child what his scores have been. To satisfy your curiosity, just wait a bit; if it’s a good result, chances are that the child will appear very happy and tell all about it by himself.
l Do not add to the gossip mill just before or after the tests. Poking around without anything to go by does not help the cause of the ‘failed’ child.
l Do not expose the child to over expectations by discussing what he plans to do after getting those gorgeous marks even before he has appeared for the test. Chances are that the child will remember only too well his ‘braggings’ when he fares poorer than expected.
l Do tell the child to make a very good effort to score well in his exams. Do not dwell on scores, emphasise on the significance of the effort ahead of the marks in the long run.
l If the child has managed to get selected, but not in the top institution or the institution of his/her choice, boost up the kid with “You’ve shown that you can do it, it is just a matter of time and opportunity now’.
l You can always tell the child examples of Bill Gates or Thomas Alva Edison who may formally not have been so highly educated yet went on to give mankind some of the greatest gifts of all time. Do not discuss this line of thought for too long. The child may actually switch his thoughts away from formal education.
l Tell the parents too that their child is brilliant in his own right, and the shine of this brilliance will appear in its own time irrespective of the institute that he completes his graduation from.
l Make an effort to learn about career options or alternatives that kids do discuss today. It is only then that the parents or the child will connect with you and your words. Else you will be no better than the hundreds of onlookers who have nothing to contribute except sneers and grins.
l And if you really have nothing to say, don’t say anything just for the sake of saying it. One wrong word and you will have damaged the child who is most vulnerable at this stage of his/her life.
l Always remember that it is important to encourage the child to put in his best effort; that will stead him more through his life than anything else.
Comments