With less than a month to go for the boards to start, our PM Shri Narendra Modi interacted with around 2000 students, teachers and parents at the Pariksha Pe Charcha session and discussed ways to handle stress at the Talkatora Stadium on 29th January 2019. He said that the education system has become rank-bound and rather than teaching children to run behind ranks we should encourage them to learn from things around them.
Highlights:
- In response to a question on exam stress he quoted from a poem by Gopaldas Neeraj-“Kuchh Khilaunoun ke tootne se bachpan nahin marta hai”
- In his advice to students whose parents repeatedly scold them for not listening to them, he emphasised upon the importance of starting a conversation with parents to find a solution
- He also had a word for the parents who put performance pressure on their wards. He gently chided them to not make their child’s report card their visiting card.
- To a question from a worried mother whose son’s studies were suffering due to online games, he said that technology should lead to expansion of the mind and be seen as means to innovate. He also reminded the students of the actual playing fields.
- In response to a question on high expectations he said that while a stiff target can be forgiven but there is no excuse for setting the bar too low. He advised them to aim big in life but not to get carried away by the process of realising them.
- Depression among students living in hostels also found a mention. They can find some senior or a person to share their feelings. Parents too should try to connect their child with someone who can help them at the time of crises or when the need arises. He was all for a get-together once a weekend to destress.
- Once while talking he tore a piece of paper and took this opportunity to remind them against littering.
- He said that learning cannot be reduced to exams only. Rather education must equip us to face various challenges of life as well because anything that challenges also polishes. If there is nothing to test us then we become satisfied with our achievements, so there must always be something to challenge us.
