Congratulations to all those who did not get GPA 5.0
Socially, we are programmed to felicitate only those who have secured the highest result and turn a blind eye to those who have put their efforts into study, but somehow failed to get the desired result. Such a tendency has implications on many layers
Results of the secondary school certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations were announced on 28 November 2022. The moment the results were announced, just like every other year, cross-sections of people, including family members of the candidates, took to social media to congratulate those who achieved GPA 5.0 this year. It's like a bandwagon where people jumped on instantly, in great numbers, to commend those who have passed with flying colours.
Whenever the result is published, we congratulate those who have achieved GPA 5.0. It's okay. But, what about others who narrowly missed out on ultimate success? Do we ever think about those who could not score GPA 5.0 or achieve their expected results? How do they react to this psychologically, and what's the impact of not recognising their efforts on their psyche?
This year, 87.44% candidates passed, out of the total students who took part in the examinations, whereas the number of students who scored grade point average (GPA) of 5.0 under 11 education boards stood at 2,69,602, which amounts to 13.51% of total candidates. It means that we are only congratulating 13.51% students; what about the other 74% learners who have also tried to put their best feet forward while taking the exams?
Socially, we are programmed to felicitate only those who have secured the highest result and turn a blind eye to those who have put their efforts into study, but somehow failed to get the desired result. Such a tendency has implications on many layers.
This sort of tendency as a society means that we are more focused on evaluating something on the basis of outcomes only, not taking into account the hard work put behind it. For society, only the result matters, not anything else. That's why, we ignore the fact that all other students who have got GPA 4.0 or above might also have studied hard, but somehow missed out on GPA 5.0. Consequently, the hard work and the efforts go unnoticed and unrecognised.
When society and its denizens do this to budding and growing students, the latter get a wrong message. They get indoctrinated in the idea that if you are to live and survive in this society, the only thing that matters is success. So, as they grow up, they start running after success, which gets reflected and becomes more evident when they cross every major stage of their lives.
When these boys and girls will be attending HSC, they will be more aggressive to get GPA 5.0, rather than really enjoying their studies and delving deep into the subject matters. Next, when they step into their university life, they will have the same mindset towards higher studies. They will be more fixated on the end product.
This is one of the reasons why university students are no longer philomaths or lovers of learning, rather they hanker after BCS, leaving everything they have studied behind, as they know that even if they study really well, society will not take notice of it. All that will matter for society and its people is whether you have become a BCS cadre or managed to get a government job at the end of your student life.
This race for success continues throughout their lives. As a result, life seems to be more of a profit-loss balance sheet for them, rather than being an enjoyable and didactic experience.
Our tendency to evaluate a student's effort in terms of results also points to the philosophy that we are not interested in producing good human beings imbued with good qualities, and an altruistic and utilitarian attitude towards life and people. This is why our education system puts more emphasis on achieving the best result and ignores those who haven't done so well, even if they have tried hard or developed good qualities other than studying well.
Such an apathetic attitude demotivates those who fail for some reason and blows the wind out of their sails, to continue their pursuit for excellence in the later phases of their lives.
This is a bad culture. It should have been quite the opposite, as the reality is those who haven't succeeded or got the expected result need our help the most. They feel psychologically weak and sad when family members and friends don't recognise their efforts and spare a few good words in times of weakness and mental breakdown.
Many students fail to stand such ignorance and insult, railroading them into taking serious steps like suicide. Every time the results of SSC or HSC are published, we see news of students committing suicide owing to their failure in the exams.
Such pressure from the part of society and family members also undermines their ability to a great extent, and reinforces a permanent feeling of fear and anxiety about exams in their minds. Even stats attest to this fact.
According to a survey published recently by the Aachol Foundation, around 364 students took their lives from January to August of this year, with the suicide rates being high among school students aged between 14 and 16. The foundation cited failing exams and study pressure as main reasons behind such reckless decisions, along with other significant reasons. It proves that our enthusiasm to care for the achievers has indeed some knock-on impacts on comparatively weaker learners.
It's time we put an end to this not-so-innocuous culture. Let us no more advocate this culture of promoting only the achievers and ignoring those who are lagging behind. Let us extend our felicitation to those learners as well who have tried, but failed. Let us say 'Very good kid, thank you for at least trying it so hard, better luck next time' instead of 'You are a failure'.
Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat is a columnist who likes to delve deeper into the human psyche.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
