It was then I came to know that the countdown for this year’s CBSE board exams has begun. The exams for 12th and 10th class will start as usual in the first weak of March. Though I have passed through this critical phase of life year’s back but I really feel very concerned for the students appearing in board’s very year.

 Why board exams are considered as a horror show through out the country? It is nothing less than the acid test for the students. The routine life comes to stand still in the examination tenure. Almost a month before the exams, the national dailies and the news channels start telling the stories regarding the same.


 Just see the face of a student who is going to appear for the boards or spend some time with him/her and you will feel the pressure he or she is feeling. They are so much under stress that the charm and glow of their faces have vanished away. Most of them cut down on their diets. No hanging out with friends, no TV, no Internet, in short, nothing else than the books. The attendance of most of the offices falls down as most of the parents take long leaves from their offices to look after or prepare their wards for the final day.

 Even the social life of the parents comes to temporary halt. By mistake if you reach any of your friend or relative’s place for day or so during this highly crucial phase of their lives, you will definitely realise that a major crime has been committed by you. The students as well as their parents remember God more often and so the number of visitors to the temples and other religious places increase many folds during this period.

 While scheduling the family functions apart from considering the subh mahurat (auspicial time), a check has to be made so that no child in the family is to appear for the board exams during that period. In short, board exams are a central part of the life of every Indian house in a particular phase of life. A student going to the examination centre gets the similar kind of treatment as given to a soldier when going on the warfront.

 Such is the impact of these exams that even the most notorious students start taking the classes and the books seriously during the board classes. Are Board exams the only criteria to check the intelligence of a child? The student put up their best only in the board classes. If a child scores 90 per cent in his junior classes but due to any of the hundreds of reason, if he is not able to score well in the so called boards his intelligence is being questioned every year so many precious lives are taken away by these board exams. 

Reports of students committing suicide are heard every year before or after the declaration of results. A student once tried to give her life by jumping from the terrace of the CBSE building. Many other such cases come into light every year.

 Where the problem does lies? In my view the major problem is with the Indian examination system. It is actually designed in a way to check the cramming capacity rather than the actual intelligence of the student. A genuinely intelligent and hardworking student generally gets equal or sometimes even less marks than the one who has just crammed the things a day before and then vomited it out in the following three hours of exam. No credit is given to the regular performance of the student through out the year.

 Only thing that matter is the ultimate performance in the final three hours. A consistently good performer, if unable to perform well due to any of the reason in the finals, will get no reward. The ratio of the practical to theory weight age is very poor, same way very little emphasis is given to the objective type pattern for the question papers. The question papers for the language subjects are most of the times designed to check the writing speeds of the student rather than actual knowledge as they are too lengthy to complete within the prescribed time limit.

 Another equally important factor responsible for converting board exams into horror movie is the expectations of the parents. As Amir Khan very rightly said in ‘Tare Zamin Par’: Below 90 per cent is like gali (abuse)to the parents. Every parent wants his/her child as the toper without actually trying to know the viewpoint of the child. One of my classmates in 12th standard suffered from depression owing to extreme parental pressure. Both her parents were doctors and as expected they wanted her to join the same profession.

 The girl was academically a strong student but she was under so much of the pressure that she went into depression and ultimately managed to get marginally passed. Countless examples of the same kind can be seen. The score of the child in the boards, the course he/she gets admitted to and the institute they are able to get, have actually become a kind of status symbol among the high middle class parents.

 For the lower middle class the load of fee spend by them on the extra coaching (other than the basic school) of the child is so much that want the best returns for that. If some elder sibling is there in the family who can serve as an example to be given by the parents then the condition become miserable for the poor child.

 Even the school and the teachers set up the minds of the students in a manner that their internal performance in the school does not matter what actually is important is the scores of the board exams. So anyhow they must get presentable scores. Special coaching classes are arranged for the board classes. Even the summer and winter vacations are cut short for these students in many schools. Some schools even go to the limit that students of board classes are not allowed to participate in the extra curricular activities. All this to maintain the good records of the school.

 In short it can be said that as the student enters the board class it is like he has been left alone in the battlefield with attacks from all sides. Like a brave soldier he has to return back safely, winning the battle.

 The examination system needs serious restructuring. Grading system should be introduced rather than the percentage. This will relieve the burden for the students by a significant level. More emphasis should be given to practical knowledge so that the actual working knowledge of the child can be tested. Same way in order to make the system more effective in terms of true testing of the intelligence, the pattern of the question pares should be made more of objective type. The regular performance of the student should be recognised rather than a one-time test. Credit must be given to the overall performance of the student through out the year. Most importantly parents are required to become supportive and understanding rather than followers of the mad race for the nineties or eighties. They must try to understand the interests and requirements of the child rather then imposing their choices on them.

 The overall environment must be made comfortable for the students and not the pressure cooker kind of. Changes must be introduced in a very positive manner so that curfew that stars every year with the board exams can be overcome.