Beyond the tyranny of exams
Sociologist
Should we allow ourselves to be disturbed by the process of growing up of our children with the tyranny of examinations, the never-ending series of standardised tests, the trap of coaching centres, and the mode of living characterised by chronic stress and anxiety? Or, should we normalise it, or even celebrate it with some sort of instrumental logic that because of this pressure they are learning the spirit of hard work, and getting themselves adjusted to a hyper-competitive world?
Those of us who think differently should pledge to initiate a new movement to save education, and give our children the vision of a new world.
I raise these questions because this is the time when a series of examinations and entrance tests — board exams, JEE, NEET and newly introduced CUET — would confront them; and a highly judgmental society would measure their worth, valourise the success stories of toppers, and condemn and castigate those who could not cope with the pressure of this rat race. This is also the time when anxiety-ridden parents would spend sleepless nights; and coaching centres or Ed Tech companies would exploit this anxiety, sell packaged success manuals for physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology, and enhance their profit.
Is it what education is all about? Is it the ultimate destiny of youngsters? Quite often, the ‘system’ paralyses us; and we begin to accept that there is no alternative; and no matter, whether our children are inclined to theoretical physics or creative arts, they must be reduced into some kind of investment (‘good’ parents, it is believed, are supposed to spend enormously for sending their children to branded schools and coaching centres), and constantly reminded that they should be able to give appropriate returns, say, a good ranking in JEE or NEET, and eventually a lucrative job in the techno-corporate world. Is it then the meaning of being educated — seeing everything — including human relationships, through the calculative logic of profit and loss; and living with terrible performance anxiety?
Yet, despite this organised and systematic assault on education, some of us must raise our voice, seek to create an awareness, and acquire the courage to say that meaningful and liberating education is not just about examinations and standardised tests; nor is it about the strategy to win a race. Instead, it is about wonder and creativity; it is a reflexive quest; it is an endless striving for making sense of the world — physical, biological, cultural and psychic/spiritual; and it is about the cultivation of a humane and critical consciousness that enables the learners to use the skills they master for consolidating the foundations of an egalitarian and compassionate society. The goal of being educated is not to be a narcissistic warrior; instead, education ought to sensitise us, cultivate the ethics of care and love, and inspire us to resist war, militarism, technological violence, destruction of the ecosystem, and the horror of a surveillance society.
Great educators like Rabindranath Tagore, Jiddu Krishnamurti and Paulo Freire never imagined the kind of degeneration of education we are witnessing these days. Poets like Pablo Neruda or Amrita Pritam, scientists like Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein, and historians like Bipan Chandra or Irfan Habib didn’t want their spirited work to be reduced into what can be regarded as the MCQ pattern of exam riddles. Our children are not born merely for cracking a series of tests which, far from challenging them intellectually, ethically and politically, exist only to filter or eliminate people through an absurd scale of measurement.
Every child carries with her a potential, and her distinctiveness cannot be measured through the JEE or NEET ranking. A society that seeks to standardise aspirations and aptitudes fails to tap this potential. Indeed, the tyranny of standardised tests and examinations kills human possibilities. Although after every such exam or test, the success stories of the toppers would be sold and advertised, most of our youngsters — unknown and wounded — would be compelled to live with the stigma of failure and a sense of meaninglessness.
It is easy not to address this real issue. Instead, it is easy to invite motivational speakers, and inspire these youngsters as they enter the battle field as ‘exam warriors’. Or, for that matter, it is even easy for PM Modi to behave like a counsellor, and advise anxiety-ridden students to see the exam time as a ‘festive’ session. It is terribly difficult to accept that the prevalent practice of education is nothing but a kind of violence. It manufactures products, not compassionate beings; it encourages selfishness and competitiveness, not the ecstasy of sharing and solidarity; it might produce soulless experts, but not necessarily poets, saints, mystics and revolutionaries. It produces conformists.
Hence, at this time of exams, those of us who think differently should pledge to initiate a new movement to save education, and give our children the vision of a new world free from techno-fascism, militaristic nationalism and neoliberal/market-driven consumerism. We should encourage those teachers who have not yet lost their creativity to regain their agency, and resist the onslaught of coaching centres. And we should work with the parents who find themselves increasingly marginalised because they feel that their children are born not just to crack these tests, but to live with their own rhythm, and celebrate the culture of learning with intellectual curiosity and creative experimentation. And we should articulate our voices more strongly. After all, there is no hope for humankind without liberating education. True, the system would always speak the language of profit, productivity, efficiency and techno-managerial skills. But we must acquire the courage to interrogate the shallowness of these ‘official’ discourses.
