#dnaEdit: Bottom of the pyramid

The Maharashtra state board, deciding the fate of over 12 lakh candidates who appeared for the Higher Secondary Certificate exams, has given its verdict. The annual exercise of marking success and failure has been followed by celebrations for some, and heartbreaks for many. The familiar scenes of a hero’s welcome for the toppers — in which the celebrity-driven media plays a lead role — will be the talking point for now. It reaffirms the collective belief that marks-based achievement is the measure of accomplishment, enforcing a hierarchy of the successful and the unsuccessful among young minds who have just set out in life. The bottom of the pyramid will have to live with ignominy because they stumbled when it was time to take the next big step. The dreams of a successful career in medicine, engineering, IT or management shattered, the vast majority of students — graded solely on the basis of scores that have little to do with their intelligence and creativity — will have to hunt for ordinary jobs, make do with a humble living. Some of them will end up serving as cannon fodder for political parties, criminal rackets and spiritual gurus. 

The parents are ashamed, distraught and scared because it could signal the end-of-the-road for the children for whom they have spent beyond their means. Apart from a handful of brilliant exceptions, most of those who had failed to make the cut come from poor families — bearing the additional burden of guilt of wasting the family’s meagre savings. 

Here then is a system that engenders inequality, where a warped idea of success is instilled into a child’s mind right from the start, goading him/her to blindly be a part of the rat race for a secure future. It rarely encourages a student to follow his/her dream and throttles the spirit of enquiry. Young people are expected to toe the line or risk failure because the curriculum has no space for originality. Learning by rote and regurgitating it on answer sheets is the only route to success. For students from the  vernacular medium, lacking in communication skills in English continues to be a major handicap that scuttles their chances in the service, marketing and hospitality industries. 

Yet, there are worthies who have subverted the exam-oriented approach to dazzle in their chosen fields.  Bill Gates had dropped out of Harvard; Steve Jobs left Reed College because it put undue financial strain on his working-class parents’ savings; Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest Hollywood directors of all time, was rejected by the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times. Society takes note of only their success, but rarely highlights the way they had to negotiate through rejections to reach the top. There is no fixed template for success. Hence an undue emphasis on examination-oriented approach will only end up harming the youth, and prevent them from pursuing their true calling. 

It will indeed be unfortunate if young men and women were to abandon their dreams because of failure in an examination. Those who do not make the grade in the mechanical and unpromising examination system need assurance from parents, teachers and even those at the helm in business and arts that failure is the first step to success, and that there is much more to life than passing examinations. There is  need for a re-think among parents, educationists and leaders of society about the best way of developing the potential of the younger generation.