Column

Sotto Voce

It is the annual season when board exam results are announced, and as usual, we have seen a statistical frenzy as the media informs us of the ever higher percentages of marks obtained by students.

Given that there are no less than four different exams - SSC, HSC, ICSE and CBSE - it gives our TV and print journalists four different opportunities to do a whole range of clichéd stories about the victors and their winning ways.

Multiply that number by the three different streams, Arts, Science and Commerce and you have a veritable orgy of possibilities. Did you study all night for three consecutive months? Did you go in for special tuitions and coaching? Are there other geniuses in your family?

Then there are the ‘human interest stories.’ You know the type - boy whose father is a peon, girl who comes from an illiterate family and plans to become a doctor. Heartwarming stuff and a media staple for years, even decades.

No question these are heroes, role models to others who can get inspired by such tales of dedication and hard work, but there is often a touch of class-based patronising in the whole thing.

True, schools at the lower end are not as well equipped as the fancier private schools, but surely the quality of mind, the willingness to work hard and, one dare say, an ability to memorise things are not limited to the better off.

What is more interesting and fascinating to watch is the great percentage war. Each year brings new, hitherto unconquered summits. Just when you thought 94.5 percent marks was the best any human could do a 95 percentage comes along, only to be beaten the next year by someone who got 95.1 percent.

No doubt that will be bested the year after. Such absurdly high scores may well be possible in the Science and even Commerce streams, where it is possible to get full marks, but even in the Arts, the last resort of the duds and the hopelessly impractical, the marks are getting higher and higher.

Not to grudge them their success, but how do these students do it? Many educationists bemoan the falling standards of teaching and the tendency by boards to make question papers easier and easier by giving ‘objective’ questions. You know the kind -- was Shakespeare English? Answer Yes or No.

But surely there are some questions in say, History which demand longer answers, where quality of thought and analysis counts for something? Or there too it’s ‘were the Nazis good guys or bad, Tick a or b?’ The mind boggles.

Maybe students are getting smarter and more focused. Given what the competition has become, parents and schools put a lot of pressure on children, who in turn understand the value of good marks.

Though often the ‘toppers’ routinely inform us that they led a perfectly normal life even during the final weeks before the examinations, studying just a few hours and spending the rest of the time watching television and hanging out with friends, this level of achievement needs a high degree of commitment.

We all know what happens in the days preceding final exams in every household - the television shuts down, a sombre mood takes over and everything revolves around the needs and schedules of the student. Multiply that by a thousand times for important milestones like board exams.

Who among us has not seen that tensed up look on the faces of parents when their children are preparing for their ‘boards?’This concern is understandable when one sees how difficult it is to get into a good institution even after getting good marks.

Anywhere else, a student with 85 percent marks would be considered a genius; here, he is a lost cause with disappointed near and dear ones to contend with. With elite colleges ramping up the cut off marks for admission, being above average or borderline brilliant is simply not enough; one has to be absolutely in the top half a percent.

Trouble is, this criterion focuses only on the results of one set of exams. An otherwise fine student may have had one bad day; that can affect him for life. It’s a patently unfair system which allows no second chances.

Why not introduce something like SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), a common examination which ranks students from all over the US and which allows repeated attempts? That way, everyone can try their best.

One more point. It is often asked why we rarely hear of these toppers later in their lives while students who were just about average become achievers. One answer is that the latter were late bloomers and realised their full potential much after leaving school.

Perhaps so, but how about this - maybe our education system does not measure the overall capabilities of a student, just his or ability to pass and exam. Parents know this from their own lives, their own experience.

Yet, it doesn’t stop them pushing their children more and more to get those absurd rankings. That is surely something to think about.
Email: sidharth01@dnaindia.net