New Delhi: It is Board exam time again and thousands of students in India who are going to take these exams are grappling with anxiety, stress and anticipation.
The pressure to perform and score high marks makes even the most confident students experience examination jitters. Peer competition, parental pressure and fear of possible failure all add up to high levels of stress. For the parents too, it is hard not to buckle under exam pressure.
Anxiety, fear, lack of confidence, insomnia, unplanned studies, avoiding food or eating too much, being lazy at times and distraction due to internet and TV are some of the reasons that lead to stress among students of classes 10 and 12 appearing for the Board exams. At times, this is further compounded by friends, relatives and parents when they start comparing their children with others.
Most of those who will be sitting for the classes 10 and 12 exams, conducted under the aegis of Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), are already going beyond their limits to study hard.
“From January onwards, an increasing number of Board students go to counsellors in order to seek guidance, share doubts and worries and sometimes just vent out their emotions. With college admissions becoming difficult and increased parental pressure, children develop stress as soon as they enter class 10. My niece who is appearing for class 10 Boards next month is regularly seeking advice from student counsellors in her school. She failed to take the pre-Board exams in January because of high levels of anxiety and stress,” said 38-year-old Renuka Tamang from Gurgaon, Haryana.
Beyond a certain point, stress definitely hampers the performance of a student.
“I agree with the observation that at times parents put pressure unintentionally on their children to perform better in exams. But I feel that exams are also a life-learning experiences in managing stress and time, prioritising and strategising the goal,” says housewife Vanshika Patel, 41, whose 15-year-old son Rohan is preparing for class 10 exams.
Many a time, adolescents are confused due to lack of support and cooperation from parents on their career choice. They end up studying subjects they do not like, attend coaching classes for entrance tests to courses they do not want to pursue.
“Children, who have a very clear career planning even at the class 10 level are the ones who do not get stressed. As they are clear about the subjects they want to study and courses they want to apply for, they are saved from undergoing strenuous schedules at coaching classes. They are focused on the syllabus of the Board and aim for eligible marks,” said 42-year-old adolescent physician Dr Anuradha Garg.
Certified parent coach Rajeev Menon, 56, feels “our students lack proper perspective, a broader picture. Students are prepared to take one examination after another, without any clue on what they want to do. Students need proper perspective, a larger picture, by means of aptitude assessment, newer subjects and career guidance.”
Today’s students are a highly confused and stressed out lot. There is a general feeling that parents and teachers are responsible for this to a very large extent.
“I feel we are at the receiving end. It is probably the worst time of my life. For the last eight months, I have buried myself in my books. What is worse is, in their anxiety to see their wards outshine other children, parents pressure students to score higher grades. Similarly, in their anxiety to bring laurels to the school in the academic field, teachers hound students to perform beyond their capacity. What do we do? They are pushing us to the point of breakdown,” says 16-year-old Ankita Arora.
Students start preparing at least six to eight months before the exam dates. This is a long period and there have been cases when children attempted and even succeeded at suicide because their exam-related stress went unnoticed. However, with the help of some counselling and parental role in handling stress, children can certainly be helped.
“My son is preparing for his Board exam and he is totally unmanageable at this point of time. He is fastidious, does not sleep well, experiences loss of appetite and worries a lot. Headaches and stomach pains are also very common with him. I took him to the doctor and he observed that these were mere symptoms of stress. The whole atmosphere at home is tense for the last six months. We have altered our daily schedule according to his study needs, but it is getting to us now. We cannot go out lest he should not feel left out, we cannot laugh, we cannot joke as he does not like anyone smiling, simply because he is undergoing extreme levels of stress,” says software engineer Ajit Nath, 47, whose son Manish will take class 12 Board exam next month.
