"markless", Remarkable Life Of A Child

I'm not a big fan of kids scrounging for mark either. However I have a different view.

Children need basic literacy and arithmetic skills. Yes, there are many people who have succeeded despite not being able to read or count. A vast majority unfortunately are unemployable in a decently paying job.

From the education system (at school or at home), the kids also need to learn focus, listen, perseverance, problem solving, critical thinking, integrity, social behaviour, confidence, motivation, ability to cogently present their thoughts, etc. In order to be successful.

Unfortunately, in this day and age with far too much screen time gat kids get, they seem to want instant gratification. And parents seem to want to give it to them.

From a short time I've volunteered with kids, I notice this. Even kids who know how to do something do not have the patience or motivation to sit and do it. They have learnt, say, addition. They can't be bothered to practice it. Since their learning is not embedded in their minds he soon lose the basics skills they've learnt. This makes a perfectly capable child shy away from progressing to more complex stuff.

In the UK for a while now kids have progressed through the education system up until the age of 16 at their own pace. However many 15 year olds who come for work experience where I volunteer lack very basic employability skills - they can't be bothered to follow instructions, they can't be bothered to report back quickly after a break, they can't be bothered to work out how to work out when they face a simple hurdle or ask or help.

I'm really not sure what, other than exams, can be used in this non-ideal world to set the expectation for kids to work hard to achieve what they are capable of achieving. With the right support from family and coaches, kids ought to learn consistent hardwork, focus and perseverance they can succeed.

 

From where i am at this point, i have a entirely different let us say bitter exposure!!

I still believe in markless remarkable life, but then does the society allow you to be so.. let us not start the debate on who are the society..if i could just change a few in my very close circle to think beyond marks, i will be a happy person..but i do not blame them too.

Let me tell you, i know of kids who have spoken loudly about hanging in their room fans because of not performing well in their board exams.. why the pressure builds..it is not the parents.. atleast take into consideration india, with the mammoth competition, and the lesser number of seats the competition burns a pit in the stomach of many..well it is easy to talk why are we running behind marks..i know many of my friends who are still having kids who are in the 3rd and 4th say that, but with a kid who has completed college and a one who just entered college, i see things differently. marks matter, not knowledge today if you need a seat in even an average college of arts and science.. the cut off in delhi university makes you cringe.

As a nation, our education system has been screwed up..( it is the least xx word i could think off right now..). i always believe education and politics should be mixed, but every minister, who sits on the high chair in the hrd departments wants his/her name engraved that they make a lot of changes, that they never know the ramifications of the changes..

My friend's son has a classmate who is almost closer to 30's, studying in his class, and he says i am getting everything free, so i can study more now and still get into a nice job in the mid 30's..that is reservation in india for you, while my maid's daughter could not get a seat in the local art college for lack of good marks and has to shell out 30k annual fees..

This is not the bitterness because of my kid's in any way. they are following their passion..

 

WEll wanted to put my view on education that i feel is right as a separate post rather than the phew...was that a vent absolutely no..(I am going to use We as the parents in general)

i strongly believe in learning than marks. i feel many of the kids who come out of colleges just have rote learned for marks, instead of passion for a subject. Maybe as parents we have to look at, are we making it so easy for the kids that they don't put enough effort into learning as they grow up..(there are always exceptions to this)

i think the flaw lies basically from the foundation time.. we appreciate too much for every milestone, we make it easy to learn, (we do not cultivate exploring, searching for answers) instead the touch of the button gives them the world to see sitting in the comfort of their couch or chairs.

we all want the best for our kids, and we all end up bringing up competitors of marks, performance that we forget to teach sportiveness, participations, adaptation and adeptiveness.

The percentage of depressed school children is on the rise, and many parents do not even realise that their kid could be depressed..

Examinations are not the yardstick to the performance of a child. thought any other method again finds its own loop holes as such. people always find a way to get through the loopholes..

Talk to many kids doing engg or whatever..and ask them if they were given a free will to do what they wanted, what they would do .. the answers that came from kids who were doing a professional course along with my daughter was surprising according to my daughter. she said there were people who said sports, archeologists..and when she asked them what is stopping them, they said, their parents expectations and dreams.. One of those days where my daughter came home to appreciate her parents for the freedom of choice and following her dreams.

Markless is a dream, but how do you think that we will know kid's performance.. don't you think grading is again marking.. even if it was rating based on lot of criteria it is again performance pressure on the child..

Well a never ending discussion!!!

Besides performance for degrees, survival, communications,being human and much more can be cultivated from school ..dream on....

 

Nice replies, Shanvy.
On a lighter note, I liked especially what the kids, liked, because my kids run away from sports!!
Archeology--no way. btw one of my school mates did masters in archeology and she is really satisfied with her work, is doing business in India, well established!
What do they want to do? No idea, not that I don't discuss, just gave some ideas, but I don't force them!
I do know how competitive it is in India, but I think it is still competitive elsewhere as well.
But in the end marks are essential, whether we like it or not, whether we live in India or not, especially if you are aiming for competitive courses.

Thanks.

 

@Sairindhri, thank you. i know a sports loving girl who was forced to take business studies and stop competing..the girl committed suicide..she was my girl's junior.
And i know somebody who discontinued from his first year at rec and started something that we never thought would kick off into a great business and ted talks..so at the end it is about following your passion and grabbing opportunities that come your way and taking risks.. (maybe that is what needs to be taught..)

oh btw my son is pursuing in something that may or may not be lucrative in means of a career unless he turns out to be at the cream. he knows that it may not be lucrative, but that is his passion, so i believe at the end passion and fire will lead.

So true that competition is everywhere and you are measured by marks..sad but truth is a 90 marks in cbse become just 180 in state board conversion, and you lose the cut off in regular state affliated colleges..

 

Totally see your point, Shanvy. Now that I'm seeing the markless system here, the flaws it has are huge. We have kids with confidence and a feeling of entitlement who don't seem to have the skills or the right attitude to go with it.

There has to be a happy medium. Let's brainstorm to find it.

India needs to focus on soft skills, especially confidence while here they need to focus on effort and hard work.

I keep telling my child she has to be better than not other people but what she was yesterday. I hope that takes the pressure off at the same time keeps her persevering.

 

So true. there is no dearth in talent here, but the rich getting rich and the poor staying poor or getting more poorer may be taken as one of the causes for the lacuna that is eroding the system. the corruption in the system. add to it, the attraction of just the few courses like engineering, medicine, and now finance adding pressure on students and then the pressure on the parents, leading to corruption.

just look at this chart, that i shared earlier here with one of the parents, the avenues are many, and we are yet to explore. did you know that there are around 50+ vocational courses offered by cbse in the 10th and 12th. i definitely know that many of my peer groups are not aware
CBSE | Academics Unit : Curriculum/Syllabus
http://cbseacademic.in/web_material/Curriculum/Vocational/2016/list_voc_courses.pdf

so i would also add awareness to parents and teacher at the school level through worshops and more. (i was shocked to hear a teacher tell my son that there is no future in the course he wants to do when he said this in the 8th..that he is pursuing that i another story though)



I abhor the system that allows the second generation of kids who are availing certain reservation quota. i do not grudge the reservation given or the percentage if it goes to the deserved candidates. i know of a person who is close to our family, who recently understood what and how the reservation can help in uplifting his village down deep south when i explained to him. while also know of a person who is very affluent, cribbing that he could have got a income certificate stating he gets below 6lakhs (working around the income limit for professional courses.) along with the cast certificate to get into the coveted iit. so there should be change in the quota system too.

I would not just blame the government, it is not the onus of the government alone, it is also the responsiblities of private companies, ngo's, parents, schools, colleges to work towards an education that is beyond marks, and igniting passion, thirst to do more. to motivate kids who are passionate about doing something.

i need to recharge myself to talk more @guesshoo, these days i am literally dumb with shock at the level of manipulation, corruption i hear and come across with regards to grants and funds that come in for research..that is another subject for another day..

that is the only way forward. you compete with being a better you .

 

That's a wealth of information you had shared, Shanvy! I read your post the day you'd posted it but wanted to see the links and chart properly before responding. Even now ive narely scratched the surface i think. I had no idea about most of the formal courses and diploma available.

The misuse of the reservation system gets my goat too everytime. About 15-20 years ago I met someone of excellent means who was blatently boasting about his cleverness of misusing the reservation system for his offspring. Someone in my family literally dragged me away before I picked an argument with him.

I can only imagine the corruption that might be rife in academia too by extrapolating from the what goes on in other areas. My dad who is usually a very straightforward person was recently complaining to me that I'm bringing my child up to be far too ethical (it seems innate in her; there isn't any credit I can take for that) He is worried she wouldnt be fit to survive in the real world. I can't tell you on how many levels I find that disturbing! Thinking on these lines does make us weary.

Snobbery around educational courses vanishing would be a great start; that will in turn lead to dignity of labour - wouldn't that help people explore and find their niche better?