‘SSC’ the
other name of Tenth std. in A.P., India
Schooling is an important phase in an individual’s life. You
can play, enjoy, and have fun along with studies in this period. However,
things are not the same always; you have to really slog it out towards the end
of the segment, viz in tenth std. “Tenth
std (SSC) is the turning point in your life, you have to cut down on your
recreations and devote 100% time to studies.”, say parents in a strict tone. At
school, SSC students don’t have games/pt period. They won’t take part in
cultural activities; “if they participate in all the cultural programmes like
dance, drama/skit, singing etc, their precious time will be wasted, so, it’s
better to curb all entertainment for SSC students”, assert the teachers. Some crazy parents challenge the tutor – sir,
if you make my child score at least 85%, I will reward you with 10k bucks.
“It’s a prestigious issue, my daughter and my colleague’s daughter are in tenth
standard; if my child gets a low score, how can I show my face to her?” says a
working mother. “Do or die, you must score above 90% in the final exams
otherwise it’s really difficult to get admission in a good senior secondary
school”, says a middle class father.
Private
schools progression -
Some or many private schools have moved a step forward – in
the ninth standard itself they start teaching tenth std. syllabus. Actually, in
the ninth standard, the academic year is somewhat like this – the first 4
months they will teach the 9th std syllabus (term end exams are
omitted or skipped), then remaining year they are taught tenth std syllabus.
They almost finish teaching the syllabus of tenth in the 9th
standard itself. So, the question is, what do they do in the tenth standard?
Here, is an interesting answer – in the entire academic year (10th standard)
they’ll be revising the entire syllabus at least four times. Conduct so many
tests, term-end exams, mock board exams etc. It’s all fair in the race for
grades in this competitive generation- ascertain the [corporate] school
managements.
But, 9th standard syllabi has plenty of aspects which are
useful to students in higher standards. Omission of these topics lead them to
suffer later for the lack of knowledge. It’s nothing but a gamble on the
students’ future in favor of just one exam (SSC)
The Board
Exam
Tenth std students have to appear for board exams in the
month of March every year. Though the government has been planning to change
the exam system for more than a decade, we hardly see any changes in it. There
is tight security in the exam halls with ample invigilators; however,
malpractice cases are on the high every year. It’s a known bitter fact, that
due to pressure from parents and teachers, certain number of tenth std students
are ending their lives after failing to reach their parents’ assigned targets.
It is not unusual to hear reports of
suicides the very next day after the declaration of results.
I wonder, is SSC that tough, to sacrifice all the happiest moments
of our beautiful childhood...? Well, this is the scene in almost all the
schools in A.P. No limits to
expectations. Parents, teachers and students, everyone wants scores, grades;
this rat race is making the child an entity rather than a citizen. The need of
the hour is to change the exam system, syllabus and approach to teaching as
well.
