The overvaluation of academic underachievement

The board exams start across India pretty soon. CBSE class 12 actually begins tomorrow. Std. 10 and Std. 12 kids are put to the test and their year-long efforts are supposed to culminate and find fruition. As is always the case the spate of media coverage of anxiety-ridden parents and children has begun. And as is always the case, the 'even if you don't do well its alright' advice is floating everywhere.

I agree, our exams put kids on the spot. One year's effort is supposed to bear fruit in exactly 3 hours. So in case one is a tad unlucky on that day of the exam, his future, is for all mortal considerations, screwed. Or so people perceive. At least all the neighborhood uncles and aunties and relatives think so. For a very long time now, talks have been doing the rounds that the system must be reformed to actually provide a more 'holistic' view of the child's learning even in case of key thresholds like grade 10 and 12. Well, I for one, never looked up the meaning of 'holistic' and this act of laziness, really hasn't mattered yet, since the system has not been touched in ages. If at all anything has changed, then it is the politics of education, that has produced the dire effect of new entrance tests being introduced, only to be repealed later and re-introduced, as the education minister at the helm keeps changing.So in the middle of all this ruckus, comes the hapless student. School, tuition classes, test series, doubt-solving sessions, home education, home work, revision, Multiple choice question speed training sessions, concept sessions, whew the list goes on. So it is understandable that the kid is under tremendous pressure.

At such a time, if someone goes on to say that marks are not the makers and breakers of life, then that comment is supposed to be a consoling factor, that actually at least rids the kids of some tension.But going totally overboard and profiling school dropouts who have made it big in business, sort of, according to me, conveys a very morbid picture. One, does it mean that marks mean nothing at all? If that is indeed the case, then shouldn't Nobel laureates and economists and social thinkers, why researchers who have met with academic brilliance all life long, feel affronted? Have their efforts all been in vain? Secondly, how well do the odds of making it big in business stack up in favor of the general population? One needs vision, genius and raw determination to make it big in business. Granted,qualifications do not assure one of big bucks. But neither does a lack of grit towards the books! I argue, that if for some reason, one quits studies, does that certainly mean that one would not quit in the face of adversity in business?

I give full kudos to acumen and a talent in a certain art or business and I very strongly feel that one must certainly follow one's dreams. But before taking the decision against studies and in favor of something else, perhaps one must just introspect for a while, and think whether the decision being taken, is out of laziness, or otherwise. For if the decision is motivated by lethargy and a lack of determination, it only forebodes a life of indigent indolence.

So I say, take up every exam, every stage as a challenge, and treat it as one that only YOU can overcome, and see the results follow. However, if for some reason beyond your control, fate stacks up odds against you, remember fate has opened up a door elsewhere, and it is only a matter of time, before you find that door.... ALL THE BEST TO NEXTGEN INDIA.