Written by: Saurav Dhakal - 20125, Grade XII
Posted on: 12 January, 2020
I used to think about scoring better in my exams will make me more educated and a better person and then I grew up. Since I was just a child, everyone around me constantly told me, “Always get the highest marks in your exams if you want to be a better person when you grow up.” Now that I think about it, it’s the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. The concept of the exam was developed to evaluate how much a child has learned. But it is not taken as a way to judge who is the better person.
I don’t agree with the idea of failing the exams and not studying at all but the average or even minimum score in any exams is more than necessary if you have the ability to do any work based on what you have learned. This one day I got very low marks on my internal exams and everyone was disappointed. It’s wasn’t anything like I failed but it sure seemed so. That day I thought about why I am pushing myself beyond my limit to get some numbers in my report card.
I researched about it the very same day. These problems have been more seen in developing countries like Nepal, India. Every parent wants their child to be at the top of their school. This has put so much pressure on the students, they can’t do anything properly. I was afraid that the same thing would happen to me. From the next day, I decided to not spend all my effort and time on studying. So, I joined a school club and started being more involved in club activities. This decision changed my life. I admit that I can’t get the same score as I used to in my exams but all the other things I have done have taught me a lot more about how to compete with the world better than any Physics or Chemistry book. This has had my parents worry about what kind of person I will be in the future but I am sure that they will understand someday.
This is the modern era where academic qualification is a small part of our life. We need something more than that. For say, communication, presentation, creation, and leadership skills have taken over the world. In my point of view, we can’t get even a quarter of these things from the coursebook. The education we receive from the student’s book will teach us how to do our job but it won’t ever say how to be recognized from this massive crowd.
This is my vision for education. I have a dream that someday, every parent around the world will be satisfied with the kind of child they have and appreciate what they become. A parent’s responsibility is to make sure their child is driven towards the path of righteousness not to put pressure on them. So I want to call everyone to stop focusing on how much marks you obtain but how capable you are to compete with the world.
