I still remember when I was young, my parents were very strict (especially my father) when it came to exams and the dreaded – exam results.
Weeks before an exam came up, my siblings and I would be seen at the study table at sharp 7pm and we would not budge from the table right up till 10pm. There would be no TV programmes, no playtime and no wasting time doing nothing.
On the exam day itself, when I returned home from school, my father would ask, “So, how was the exam paper?” If my answer was that it was easy, his immediate response would be, “Great, then I can expect you to score at least 90+ marks for that particular paper.” Where else, if my answer was, “The paper was tough,” his response would be, “That is because you did not prepare for the exam enough!”
Report card day was always “Doomsday” for me as that would be the day the teachers at school met my parents and all my mischievousness, carelessness, playfulness and lack of attention in class would be reported to my parents.
Things seem so much different now and when I say different, I mean a total paradigm shift.
My kids seem so relaxed when it comes to exams. My son who is eight years old this year only prepares for his exams about a week before. If I push him to study weeks before the exam, his immediate response would be, “Mum, if I start preparing now, I will surely forget everything as there is still so much time before the exam commences.” When I bar him from watching TV or going out for a leisurely game of football, he will retort back by, “Mum! All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I need a break to relax my mind so that I can concentrate better for the exams.”
On the exam day, when my son returns from school and we ask him how was his exam, he would reply, “Senang kacang putih” or “Senang kacang hijau.” No matter how tough the paper is, his standard reply is the same. When the marks are given out to the students, my son will call us up at the office if his marks are good and shout out his marks. Where else in the event that he did not perform well in his exams, he would immediately send us a very pathetic SMS informing us of his marks, apologising and promising us that he will definitely do better the next time around.
Report card day is more of a “get to know your best friend’s mum and dad” for my children at school. They would be pointing out their friends' parents to us and be more interested in chatting with their friends rather than be afraid or worried about what their teachers are going to report about them in school.
I believe that the word “exams” itself has recently changed so much that children are no longer afraid of exams like we used to be. Perhaps it could be because children nowadays are exposed to exams at a very tender age – at preschool / playschool itself and not at primary school.
In my time, there were only three exams in a year for the respective terms, where else nowadays I see most schools having exams on a monthly basis.
This has left me pondering whether we are actually taking the right approach to exams now.
Rajes Pooranalingam
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