Recently our Prime Minister Narendra Modi had an interaction with students, teachers, and parents during his 'Pariksha Pe Charcha 2020' programme. A lot of excitement and enthusiasm was seen among the students, teachers and parents to not only participate in the unique event but also to receive valuable tips from PM Modi who is keen to ensure that the students take exams in a relaxed atmosphere and do not come under stress, to ensure better results in the long run.
To a question from a student and losing interest while studying, the PM said most often students get demotivated due to factors that are external to them and also as they try to attach too much significance to their own expectations.
It is a very common phenomenon among students especially when an important examination is at their door step. It is extremely disastrous as it affects them psychologically, socially, emotionally and cognitively. In fact, even Albert Einstein suffered from exam fever, and Winston Churchill only managed to write his name when he was appearing for an entrance exam.
Prime Minister asked the students to find out the reason for the demotivation and ponder over how to deal with it. He gave the example of the recent issue of Chandrayaan and his visit to ISRO. PM Modi while giving examples of how cricketers Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman batted in difficult situations during India – Australia match in 2001 to clinch victory for India from the jaws of defeat rightly said that “We should not look at failures as setbacks or stumbling blocks. We can add enthusiasm to every aspect of life. A temporary setback doesn’t mean that we cannot succeed in life. In fact a setback may mean that the best is yet to come. We should try to convert our distressed situations as stepping stones for a bright future"
Examinations are always stressful and fill us with fear because our future is linked up with them. The extent of exam stress is too much that drives them to take extreme measures. For a brilliant student the examination is ‘Now or Never’. For a poor one it is ‘Neither here nor Anywhere’. The fear of exams is more before the exams causing them to underperform on that day. We cannot expect what is coming in exam & what is not. Many negative happenings take place when exams enter the student's life. Student becomes nervous, tensed & unhealthy because of such environment. The best solution for this issue is that the students need to maintain a calm and peaceful mind. And it is the responsibility of parents and teachers to make it possible. Our parents can also be a big reason of students getting too much tensed for their examinations. Parents pressurize them to perform extremely well in exams & in that immense pressure, academic performance gets affected. Sometimes even students also feel anxiety when they study to compete in exams. They feel the fear of losing in the competition. One must remember that scoring low marks or failing an exam is not the end of the world. Each time the going gets tough, I think of this quote I had read in my school days, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.’’

Email:------dixitpatrakar@yahoo.in