BORED (of) EXAM

It is finally official. No More board exams for Class 10. The government  has made it optional.  This comes as a huge bonus to the students who are studying in Class 9  now. Longer Summer  holidays,no tuitions,  Dish Tv’s can stay,no one is grounded  and no career defining  decision to be taken. IIT Professors can now scratch their bald heads to identify ways by which they can select candidates . The need to shift schools is not required and our education system has opened the gates for students to enter into a level playing field.

I still remember how much I struggled that one year. I hardly followed Australian Cricket, refrained from meeting new women ( no kadalai) and had my phone removed from my room. Currently, I doubt I can do without any of the above tasks for one day. Phew!!! It is a huge relief for the students. I  firmly believe that it is at the end of class 9 and the beginning of Class 10 that we forget how to enjoy life. More often than not we end up in front of our books for one year on the trot.Now students all over the country can relax and think about what they want to do for another two years. The tenth standard exam has been the cause of many problems.

From the day the results come till you are around 30, people want to know your tenth standard score. It is crazy that one set of exams can determine what kind of a person he/she is. It used to be a benchmark for most parents to decide what his/her son is capable off. Intelligence cannot be measured with one exam and the students ought to be tested in a wide range of subjects to determine how good or bad they are. The Indian mentality is way behind the west in this regard. There is too much emphasis on marks or money and as a result the competition is sky high. A lot of deserving students get unnoticed while a lot of undeserving students take center stage. According to me, this is very visible in a country like ours and it would perfect if the government can standardize education and  increase the quality. Currently, the rich get richer and better education while the poor get poorer and mediocre education.

By abolishing the 10th standard board exam, the government is sending positive signals to the Mango junta about Next Gen Education. As any other reform, I am sure this would evoke a strong debate and help Barkha Dut and Arnab Goswami earn their grub. Jokes apart, I am in favour of this decision and I am sure most people will be. Teachers and local government officials must stop tampering with the system further and just abide the law. It would do wonders for our country.  Next up is Class 12.