JOIN USAcademic challenges of the average students
More than two hundred years ago renowned poet William Blake presented a thought provoking caricature of a typical school boy in his much discussed poem, The School Boy. ‘He’ appeared to be eternally unhappy and disappointed. The poet’s criticism had gone to the extent of stating that the school took away all joys of childhood from the children who felt like caged birds in the schools.
Seeing the premature cynical expression on the face of a present day school boy one begins to doubt whether things have not changed much over the years. In spite of well planned efforts from all the sides to lighten their burden children appear to be stressed out and disoriented. Though they are smarter than their predecessors in many aspects they find themselves in a tensed landscape both internal and external.
The major section of a class is always found to be the group of average students. But unfortunately all the policies are framed focusing either the gifted or the low achievers who actually form only a minority. The group of average students tries to adjust with any situation without much complaints or even comments. Teachers also do not worry much about them because they are compelled to focus on the low achievers often. Thus generally the problems of the average remain unheard and unattended.
Even after the introduction of the Continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) most of the students find it difficult to handle the quantum of concepts they have to master in each subject. Each subject teacher comes with his/her specific strategy and ensures that the students acquire the desired level in the topics covered. Each teacher gives projects, assignments and home work and almost all of them fix deadlines without considering the pressure on the child from various corners. The teachers also might be under the pressure of some other deadlines fixed by their higher ups. Eventually the child feels suffocated. But this pathetic condition can be easily handled, if the teachers collectively plan the activities for a unit or month so that each subject would be given required number of days for the completion of assignments, projects and other writing tasks. This planning in turn will lighten the burden of the teachers too.
Passive students
In schools and colleges when a minority of students remain highly motivated and goal oriented the majority remains passive and inactive. They read, write and participate in minimum activities indifferently, just as part of a flow from which they couldn’t escape though they wanted to. They lack in genuine interest. They perform all the tasks under compulsion and they never enjoy the work they do. This results in mediocre performance. Finally all these people come out of the institution with pass certificates that testify their eligibility. They get easily absorbed in the long queues of the job seekers. But employers are always in the look out of excellence and they hire only highly motivated people. Thus we come to a point that mediocrity is the greatest curse for job seekers and it is caused by the lack of interest and motivation among the students, a very basic problem which had to be addressed at an early stage, preferably in the schools. The children should be sensitized that mediocrity is a cardinal sin and there is no value for average performance in this world. Primarily it is the responsibility of the parents and then the teachers, educational institutions and the society as a whole.
Testing tools
There should a fool proof mechanism to help each child understand himself, his potential and his weakness. Each individual is unique and to expect same output from all is not scientific. The CBSE is trying to address this very important issue and they have come out with some reliable solutions like the Global Aptitude Test, Proficiency Test, Problem solving assessment etc. But such tools should be accessible to all students irrespective of the board they have chosen. More such reliable tools should be universally made available to all students to help them understand themselves so that they can choose the right higher course according to their aptitude.
Understanding one’s own self is actually the basis of motivation. A student who is fully convinced of his potential will always remain motivated. Over ambition and the resultant disappointment from the part of the parents affect the performance of the students adversely and this problem can also be solved if both the students and parents understand the abilities and limitations of the students.
Career guidance
Lack of effective career guidance is another issue which demands immediate attention from the part of educational institutions. Goal oriented, systematic career guidance will help the children handle the ambiguity in making choices for their career. Many colleges have started their career corners, but the irony here is this that one has to make a choice before entering the universities in the present situation.
Children face many adjustment problems like bullying, unhealthy competitions and rivalries and teasing in the schools. Though they take these things very seriously in the initial stages, they themselves develop enough courage to tackle these problems in the course of time. But the pain experienced by a child when being branded as an ineffective one cannot be handled easily. All teachers should take maximum care not to brand one child as a low achiever because the meaning of his very existence is being questioned here.
Pressure to perform
The craze for mark/score from the part of the school and the parents is another challenge for the students. When the school management gives maximum priority to the performance in terms of data like school average, subject average etc. the students feel burdened and even tensed. Even the high achievers are caught up in this turbulence. This results in an artificial atmosphere in the school and this artificiality prevents the natural evolution of the student as an individual. He finds himself as a competitor everywhere, mostly like a race horse. He is nowhere free.
This lack of freedom puts out the genuine fire in him. Hence an educational institution should always strive hard to provide free atmosphere which is conducive to natural and healthy growth of the individuals. Let the students perform well, without any compulsion, pressure or fear.