There is acute academic competition, widespread coaching and disproportionate expenditure on education by parents. How to deal with such situations?
This is a complex and nuanced question that does not have a simple answer. There are many factors that influence the educational aspirations and expectations of parents and children, as well as the outcomes of their educational attainment. Some of the factors include socioeconomic status, family structure, academic performance, urban or rural location, and cultural norms.
According to one study, Chinese parents generally have high aspirations for their children’s education, regardless of their class or urban or rural background. However, there are significant class differences in their educational expectations, which are based on the reality of their socioeconomic situation and their children’s academic performance. The study suggests that educational aspirations and expectations have an important impact on children’s academic development, and that reducing the gap between them is a key challenge for educational policy.
Another study argues that helping parents get a college education helps their children succeed, especially for families headed by women. The study claims that a college degree has a major impact on a family’s economic stability and social mobility, and that it also influences the educational aspirations and attainment of their children. The study recommends that policies and programs should support low-income parents, especially single mothers, to pursue higher education and overcome the barriers they face.
Therefore, a more balanced and comprehensive perspective is needed to understand the dynamics and implications of parental aspirations and expectations for education.
Many steps have been recommended by various education policy documents to reduce Examination pressure at an the same time prepare them better to face life as they come out of college.
This is a very relevant and important question, as examination pressure can have negative effects on students’ mental health, motivation, and learning outcomes.

Various education policy documents have recommended some steps to reduce examination pressure and prepare students better for life after college. Some of these steps are:

– Making board exams more flexible and competency-based, with assessment of essential skills and higher-order thinking.

– Introducing semester, modular, or annual exams for different subjects or grades, with different formats such as objective, descriptive, or project-based.
– Reducing the weightage of board exams in college admissions and using a common aptitude test or other standardized tests conducted by the National Testing Agency.
– Promoting continuous and formative assessment, self-assessment, and peer assessment throughout the school years, with feedback and remediation.

– Encouraging holistic and multidisciplinary education, with a focus on core concepts, foundational skills, and experiential learning.
– Supporting low-income and single-parent families to pursue higher education and overcome the barriers they face.
– Creating a National Assessment Centre (PARAKH) to bring greater synergy and quality in board examinations conducted by different boards of education.
– Using technology and artificial intelligence to track the progress of students and help them make optimal career choices.

These steps are aimed at transforming the culture of assessment from one that is based on rote learning, memorization, and competition to one that is based on learning, understanding, and development. By doing so, the policy documents hope to create a more equitable, inclusive, and quality education system that prepares students for life in the 21st century.

There are many mechanism are being suggested for the catch up of the deficiency in the basic learning of students.
There are different mechanisms that are being suggested for the catch up of the deficiency in the basic learning of students. Some of them are:

– Remedial education: This is a form of basic catch-up education that reteaches core skills, such as reading and math, to students who have fallen below minimum standards. Remedial education can be provided in various formats, such as small group tutoring, one-to-one tutoring, private tutoring, specialist tutoring, volunteer tutoring, or peer tutoring.
– Continuous and formative assessment: This is a process of monitoring and evaluating students’ learning progress and providing feedback and remediation throughout the school years. Continuous and formative assessment can help identify students’ strengths and weaknesses, tailor instruction to their needs, and improve their learning outcomes.
– Holistic and multidisciplinary education: This is a type of education that focuses on core concepts, foundational skills, and experiential learning across different domains and disciplines³. Holistic and multidisciplinary education can help students develop critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills, as well as a broad and deep understanding of the world.
– Technology and artificial intelligence: This is a use of digital tools and systems to support and enhance students’ learning experiences and outcomes⁴. Technology and artificial intelligence can help track the progress of students, provide personalized and adaptive learning, and help them make optimal career choices.


An incidence comes to mind during the period when PowerPoint presentation had become very common. A professor of theoretical Physics who was invited to give a talk. The lecture theatre was prepared for all kind of multimedia accessories so that he could effectively present his talk. To our surprise he told us that all we need is a blackboard and a chalk. So, all the audience has to move to a classroom where a blackboard was available. The most effective and fundamental talks are still presented with a just a chalk and a blackboard because the students can observe how the examples and derivation of a formula is done step by step sometime even making mistakes. This gives an important impression that scientist are merely trained professionals which that student can themselves aspire to achieve.
Let us conclude this topic by giving a quotation from Richard Feynman who arguably is the best science teacher of this modern times.
“I was an ordinary person who studied hard. There are no miracle people. It happens they get interested in this thing and they learn all this stuff, but they’re just people.”
― Richard Feynman