Examinations and results.
Whenever results are announced , everyone starts discussing percentages . Pupils , schools and even Teachers are rated on the percentages obtained .
Sad state of affairs indeed and all of us running this rat race are equally to blame .
Soft skills are often ignored or not given sufficient importance , so also the fact that everyone is not equally adept at memorising and spewing forth in a few hours .
What about truly inclusive schools that have adm...itted and worked hard with weaker pupils and got them to pass .
Is life all about Physics, Chemistry , English , Maths and Social studies?
What about the musicians , the story tellers , the dancers , the sportsmen? Just because they never achieved that 80 or 90 % are we writing them off as "also ran"?
Will they not be a success ? So why are they being ignored and not celebrated .
The news papers and news channels are filled with the so called success stories of how so and so got 99% and how hard they worked to hit the jackpot - and which colleges are falling over themselves to grant them admission with a scholarship to boot .
Over my years in education, I have seen that those pupils may not have done well in school no doubt but more often than not it has been the late bloomer who is now atop the food chain so to say.
Today they are entrepreneurs , owning companies and running companies for others . They are success stories personified and proud of the same , despite the fact that they were often ignored in school for not being good enough and not scoring high marks in the board examination .
You may not get a medal or your name on that Honours board but you can still make it in life . It's about time we started thinking differently . Better now than never.
Whenever results are announced , everyone starts discussing percentages . Pupils , schools and even Teachers are rated on the percentages obtained .
Sad state of affairs indeed and all of us running this rat race are equally to blame .
Soft skills are often ignored or not given sufficient importance , so also the fact that everyone is not equally adept at memorising and spewing forth in a few hours .
What about truly inclusive schools that have adm...itted and worked hard with weaker pupils and got them to pass .
Is life all about Physics, Chemistry , English , Maths and Social studies?
What about the musicians , the story tellers , the dancers , the sportsmen? Just because they never achieved that 80 or 90 % are we writing them off as "also ran"?
Will they not be a success ? So why are they being ignored and not celebrated .
The news papers and news channels are filled with the so called success stories of how so and so got 99% and how hard they worked to hit the jackpot - and which colleges are falling over themselves to grant them admission with a scholarship to boot .
Over my years in education, I have seen that those pupils may not have done well in school no doubt but more often than not it has been the late bloomer who is now atop the food chain so to say.
Today they are entrepreneurs , owning companies and running companies for others . They are success stories personified and proud of the same , despite the fact that they were often ignored in school for not being good enough and not scoring high marks in the board examination .
You may not get a medal or your name on that Honours board but you can still make it in life . It's about time we started thinking differently . Better now than never.
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