New Delhi: Asking parents not to build "unnecessary pressure" on their children, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that parents should not treat the report cards of their children as their "visiting cards" or expect them to fulfill their unfulfilled dreams.
While interacting with around 2,000 students, teachers and parents in the second edition of "Pariksha pe charcha", the Prime Minister said, "I would request parents, do not expect your children to fulfil your unfulfilled dreams. Every child has his or her own potential and strengths... It is important to understand every child's strengths. Parents often treat the report cards of their children as their visiting cards and that adds extra pressure on them which is very unreal and unhealthy."
"Only when you take it in spirit and encourage your child, a 60 per cent holder moves towards 70 or 80 per cent. If you only criticize and scold your child for not getting 90 per, they will start believing that they are incapable. It will take their grades further down towards 40 per cent," the Prime Minister added.
With less than a month to go for the Class 10 and Class 12 examinations, PM Modi discussed ways to handle the exam stress in the interactive session, where students from across the country got a chance to participate.
"Our learning cannot be reduced to exams only. Our education must equip us to face various challenges of life as well. I sincerely believe that anything that challenges us, polishes us too. If there is nothing to test us, then we become complacent. There must always be something to challenge us," he said.
The Prime Minister also advised the students to aim big in life but do not get carried away in the process of realising them.
Quoting the couplets noted poet Gopaldas Neeraj, the Prime Minister said, "As 'chand khilone ke khone se bachpan nahi mara karta (childhood does not die because of the loss of some toys), so failures in some exams don't mean failure in life. It is important to take tests and exams in the right spirit as tests make a person stronger, and one should not abhor them."
"While aiming big in life is good, but don't get so carried away by it that your dreams remain dreams and you become too old just thinking about it. We must understand ourselves. We must be true to ourselves, questions ourselves frequently to see how we stand periodically as compared to our ambitions and dreams in life," he said.
In response to a question on time management and exhaustion, the Prime Minister said that 1.25 billion Indians are all his family. "When one thinks and works for his family, how can he feel tired? Each new day, he resumes his work with new energy," he said.
Agreeing with the PM's views, Class 9th student Stuti Verma said, "The PM has rightly advised us to manage our time. Time management is the key to success, so it should be students' responsibility to select their priorities and work accordingly to achieve their goal."