EXAM STRESS AND RISING BLOOD PRESSURE

                                              EXAM STRESS AND PARENTAL PRESSURE

Exam is the greatest evil which is taking its toll on the health of innocent students. The race to surge ahead is so intense that it is quite punishing for tenderly students. The competition is so tough and fierce that students are having sleepless night and sleepwalking on their way to goal. The stress is conspicuous and visible by frequent instance of rising reading level in ‘sphygmomanometer’. The student as young as 25 years is at the receiving end of this disturbing development.
The so called ‘examination’ is made out to be larger than life entity. All hell is let loose to score the possible highest mark. No stone is left unturned to outscore the neighboring guy. Parents feel proud when score wise they outdo their neighbor. The one with lesser grade is looked down upon. The one with higher score is made out to be the role model. All philosophy, values and ethics is defined by grade in score card. That is not a good development.
Parents are acting like pressure cooker. The protector is turning into a tormentor. The taunting and all such ‘emotional attached’ by parents on almost daily basis is a serious area of concern. The quest to be millionaire in minutes is making mockery of value based education. The emphasis is more on money minting professional courses; the research, basic science, social science are the unfortunate victim of apathy.
This is time to act upon it before we reach the point of no return. The open book examination, wherein the application part of knowledge is tested is best way to get it done. Concept should be the concern than the memorizing it to precision.  The soft skills should be given more importance than the academic one. Debate discussion and interview performance should weigh more value than the score in examination.
Parents have a big role to play to ease the pressure off the shoulder of their sons and daughters. They should set achievable goals for them. Education and values should be seen as an achievement than the pay package. They should encourage their ward to opt for the courses which they are interested in. The aspiration and goals should not be force-fed to them. The objective of life should not be decided when they are in embryonic stage.
The syllabus should not be way ahead or back of times. It should be interesting, enjoyable and application oriented. The scope of mugging and regurgitating in examination halls should be discouraged. Even academician, students, researcher, educationalists should be involved in the process of syllabus design. The undesired mental fatigue should be avoided. Learning should be a fascinating exercise than the tedious one.
It is quite serious an issue to be brushed under the carpet. The generation of young is in serious stress because of greed and materialistic pursuit. The greed and its pursuit are interpreted as a sense of achievement. The time is not far when the high blood pressure in young will be a rule than the exception. The time to act is now. Time is ticking….