With the announcement of current year’s date sheet for the CBSE board examination for Classes X and XII, and as the board practical exams just got over, students resort to cramming for the exam, burning the midnight oil and thus taking a concerted effort to surge over the tide of time.
Also, one cannot ignore the fact that oftentimes, parents do worry about the child’s level of comfortability about taking up the exams successfully and wonder what they could do to help their child do better.
As for parents, it is of paramount importance that they are bound to play a newly assumed supportive cum complementary role so as to reinforce their level of confidence at this decisive phase of their wards’ academic endeavour.
Due to the surmounting level of stress, as the exam days close in, there is every chance of children going erratic and showing lax in their day-to-day routine including their food habit and regular intake of water, which may have a direct impact on their health. Skipping daily meals and consuming junk food and snacks are the result of children being stressed. Thus, sleep deprivation and improper diet will cost so dearly in a child’s progress.
Keeping a close look at their choice of food, sleep pattern and recognising these signs of stress will help children to get away from such self-harming activities besides enabling them to maintain the anxiety level to a minimum. Parents can ensure that their children are taking a balanced diet and a well-earned sleep.
Encourage them to study in the early mornings as there is minimal distraction outside which helps them concentrate better and enables their retention capabilities. Words of reassurance such as, ‘do not worry so much about results’ and ‘do your best’ will not only render the emotional support but also go a long way in tackling their mental strain and not succumbing to pressure.
It is also equally important to teach them how to accept failures in life and to move on, as failure is the stepping stone and ultimately prepares them for harder tasks in life. At this point, parents’ collaborative effort and involvement in the preparation of child’s exam study schedule with a few well-timed breaks will act as an immense psychological fillip for the child apart from ensuring a perfect and comprehensive study plan.
Encourage the child to study with ideas jotted down in bullet points so as to be very specific and sure about the required value points. Further,parents can contribute a lot in creating a perfect as well as conducive study ambience at home for their child to be free from all sorts of distractions.
Refrain from any uncalled-for discussion and prolonged arguments over unrealistic targets as they would not only annihilate the child’s self-esteem but also leave negative repercussions in their morale and the resultant performance in exams.
Parents should understand that reminding the child of his/her performance in the previous exams - which might either be overwhelming or not so up to the mark, will only make the child increasingly perturbed and overshadow their next performance. It is also equally important not to have a detailed or analytical discussion of the exam that just got over, as it does not serve any purpose in terms of subject improvement.
The author of this article, Hameeda Kadar, Principal MES Indian School, is one among the CBSE board exam tele-counsellors appointed to provide pre-examination psychological counselling to Class X and XII students and their parents at the time of preparation as well as during the examination days to deal with exam-related stress.
In all, parental support and guidance in the preparation of an examination is vital and plays a crucial role in the overall performance of their child especially in taking up examinations in a stress-free manner.
