A visibly worried friend confided in me the other day that his daughter studying in the 10^th standard is suffering from a kind of examination phobia. An otherwise good learner, she fares well in her class but turns blank while taking an examination. The two private academies that she has joined are of little help.

My memories went back to school days. My teachers were strict that we concentrate on what was being taught in the class, and those who sought private tuitions were looked down upon. If anyone amongst us was caught with ‘help books’ with solved questions and answers, he was severely reprimanded. “Only read your text books, nothing more and nothing less”.

The topper in my higher secondary era scored 66.5% marks which by today’s standard is a shameful score. Times have changed. In the rat race to score more, the very process of learning has taken a hit. Last year, a student of CBSE XII scored 100% marks in English literature. I wonder how?

For sure, if Shakespeare himself were to take a test in his own literature, there is no way he’ll be able to score 100%. Something has gone wrong along the line.

A veteran school teacher rued that “Today the emphasis is not on learning and gaining knowledge but only on studying to score marks. The system is such. We can’t help,” adding, “there is so much pressure on students. Extreme signs of stress are visible in every student.” I fully agree. Shifting of focus from ‘learning’ to ‘tutoring’ has taken a toll on knowledge gaining. 

With looming peer pressure to score over the other, the entire gamut of basic learning at school, the very purpose of education, seems to have been side-lined. Is higher percentage in examination the only criteria left to assess depth of a subject?

An independent India is yet to evolve an education system which can be called ‘our very own’.  Why have we not conceived any reforms? Despite high level panels on the education system nothing has changed. “Today, youngsters attain professional degrees to launch a lucrative career but the culture is amiss,” remarked a retired principal of an elite Delhi school.

He went on to share: “How do we infuse in them sensitivity and a cult of social responsibility? They are in a hurry to recover the huge amount invested in their education.”  The eco-system is not at all academic-friendly, and tends to induce the cult of cramming than learning. This damages the psyche and frustrates those students who are conscientious enough to understand the subject in totality.

Thus more often than not, good students lag behind and score less marks than those who may not have put in hard work round the year. Then, isn’t the present system of examination good for bad students and bad for good students?

The schools, once looked upon as temples of learning, have fast deteriorated to a level where teachers are not interested to teach and the students even less interested to study though both for different reasons. The students are parent-driven to private academies which offer students ‘tutorial capsules’ as a quick route to higher marks in the examinations without shedding sweat.

“As final examinations approach, students are drawn to tutorial academies while most of them stop going to school thinking it as a waste of time. This is a dangerous development which has already taken its toll. We are churning out blatantly insensitive students”, the retired principal rounded off his observations.

It is a pity that nobody seems to be bothered about mushrooming private academies which are undermining the over-all academic standards of regular schools. A leading private academy, I am told, has earmarked a hefty budget of Rs. 50 lakh for publicity in newspapers and magazines for a single ‘season.’ Anyone just needs to ‘launch’ the set up and mint money.

It is deplorable that education, the preferred vertical for the development of our country, has been hijacked from scholars and handled by unscrupulous businessmen.

The present education scenario may be rich in literacy but poor in knowledge. India needs to develop a quality cult in education without which we run the risk of churning out professionals devoid of nationalism. “What do we do when our engineers, our doctors, our experts see overseas more attractive for settling down even while their own country continues to be mired in backwardness,” lamented the principal.

Meanwhile, my worried friend has sought an appointment with a counselor to take his daughter out of her examination phobia. Will he succeed? Will she be cured? I’m curious.