I am scared..really scared. Ever since my
little one joined a nursery school, I have been blown over by a huge tornado of
questions- “ is this school right enough for him?” will it prepare him for the mad competition to
come later in life?” “ why haven’t I put him in an international school?” “what
are his hobbies…did the school have a summer camp to take care of that”..blah..blah..blah..
the list is endless. And if that was not enough, a pushy relative even asked me
what his grades in play school were. As if it mattered! It does not..to me…for
heaven’s sake.. he is not when still lisping and is barely 4.
But maybe,
it does to a whole lot of people. Year after year, we see parents pushing their
children to scale the heights of success..and the children do become super
achievers, with alarming regularity. What else can explain a big bunch scoring
a flawless 10 a la Nadia Comaneci in the Board exams. A CGPA
of 10 or 100% is supposed to mean that the child has nailed it. Something that I
am loathe to believe. Not because I doubt the brightness or genius of these
children; being prodigies of an information society, their exposure to various
vistas of knowledge is enormous. I seriously doubt the pedagogy and the system
of evaluation being practiced today.
About 20
years earlier when I was in school, a 90% received ooohhs and aaahhs and the
child getting that coveted percentage in any school exam was treated with
reverence by peers. A 90% or a little more meant you are SOMETHING of an
authority on the subject(s)….you are closer to the ideal type. A 100% of today
means you are THE ideal type..period. But
did not Weber point out that the ideal type is just an idealistic measuring
tool which does not exist in reality. Moreover, the tiny cynic in me refuses to
accept that student after student can score full marks in language subjects,
however creative, imaginative or fantastic he/she might be at the subject. It all
seems pretty ludicrous, really.
I really have nothing..absolutely nothing
against the children who are doing phenomenally well in the exams and I as I said
earlier…nailing it. But, I am skeptical that they are being taken for a huge
ride in an amusement park which will not be so amusing in the years to come. Because
first, in any exam save that of Math or the Pure Sciences, it is next to
impossible to be 100% right. Then again, this perfect score pushes the child to
believe he/she is simply the best and there is nothing more to achieve. Plus,
the internal pressure that he/she must always be perfect in all future exams to
match up to this initial achievement. Any failure or inability to do so is a
perfect recipe for depression, feelings of inadequacy and a host of other
psychological complications.
I am rather
confused as to what the solution could be. But as a parent, I really wished
that the teachers taught better and kept the bar a little lower. For in the
years to come, I dread being the run of the mill parent scrambling in my after
work hours to finish the holiday homework and all other school tasks for the child or
worse, nagging and bullying him to work his head off to score the very
achievable 100%. I don’t want this future for my child, I don’t want it for
myself as well. And even if some Board does evaluate him perfect, I would
refuse to believe and I would not want the little one to believe..that he is
purrrfect..the ideal type. And if he does not, I am petrified of the resultant
despair and gloom. Gosh no! Tsshat is why I am scared..dumb scared.
