In the highly competitive system of education that prevails today, marks have emerged as one of the most evident signs of success at the academic level. Students are required to perform better than their peers and get excellent marks in order to occupy good ranks in exams. Although healthy competition may help students to exert themselves more, but too much pressure from their peers regarding marks is not only unnecessary but also demotivating for students.
The purpose of education must be to gain knowledge and develop various skills. But, once exam marks are considered the measure of success, the whole idea of education becomes a kind of race for some students.
What Is Peer Pressure Among Students?
Peer pressure among students occurs when the youth feel affected by the success, the expectations, and the behavior of their peers and friends. In academics, such peer pressure could be when the students compare themselves on the basis of the scores in their exams, ranking, grades, and performance.
The student who scores 85% could feel like an underachiever after knowing that his/her friend scored 95%. On the other hand, a good-performing student could get anxious as he/she could be fearful of losing his/her place in the classroom.
The use of social media could increase the comparison further. The students would always see themselves being compared with regards to exams, competitive exams, study habits, and academic achievements.
The Pressure to Score High Marks
The demand for good marks could arise from various sources. Parents could have very high expectations from their children regarding their academic achievements since they think that only good marks can provide a good future. Examination marks are valued not only by parents but by teachers as well.
However, students could impose demands upon themselves too. They could consider any mark under a certain percentage as a failure. This means that good performance might be considered insufficient.
Such situation makes students compete with each other rather than study their subjects.
How Academic Pressure Affects Students
There can be many negative results if the academic pressure is too much. The learner will have examination anxiety, concentration problems, sleeping problems, irritability, lack of motivation, and fear of failure. They can stop finding pleasure in things like sports, pastime, communicating with others, and art because they think they should spend all their time studying.
The problem is also that such pressure may discourage students from asking any questions. If one is scared to make a mistake, they will not dare to speak up in class and say that they did not understand something.
All this will end up ruining the learning process. Real learning needs curiosity, experimentation, asking questions, and the right to make mistakes.
When Marks Become More Important Than Knowledge
Among the numerous issues raised by excessive competition within academics is the issue that students will be motivated to chase grades at the expense of gaining knowledge.
This means that students will only learn how to cram their answers since the same answers will appear in the examinations. They will not get a chance to think critically or apply the same knowledge in practice.
For instance, a student might learn a scientific formula by heart but end up writing it down in an examination without knowing how it came about and what its implications are. He or she will still get high grades despite failing to understand the essence of education.
The Role of Parents and Teachers
Both parents and teachers can help reduce stress among students during examinations. Education is important, but the performance of the child should not become the measure of his or her worth.
Rather than only asking "How many marks have you scored?", parents can ask the following questions:
• What did you learn?
• What was the most interesting topic for you?
• What was hard for you?
• What can be done to improve your performance?
• What achievement are you happy about?
In a similar way, the teacher can help create a healthy atmosphere in class where students feel motivated to participate, ask questions, make mistakes, and improve.
Moreover, students need to be encouraged to compete against their own past performance, not others'.
Building a Healthier Education System
Reducing peer pressure is not about doing away with tests and assessments. Rather, the education system must acknowledge the fact that a student’s achievement is about more than test scores.
The schools could value projects, practical work, creative thinking, communication, teamwork, problem solving, sports, arts, and vocational skills. Tests could use diverse forms such that students get chances to prove their knowledge and abilities.
Above all, the students must be taught that one poor test performance will not determine their future life. It is only normal to make mistakes and fail.
Conclusion
Academic pressure from marks is another major cause of stress for today's students. As kids continue to compete and compare themselves to other kids with regard to marks, education may become a source of stress, not a source of curiosity and development.
Marking may be helpful when it comes to evaluating certain academic qualities of the learner, but marks must not be treated as the only criterion for assessing a person's intelligence, abilities, or even potential. Good education involves making the learner study and think on his/her own and developing practical skills in the learner as well as keeping him/her healthy physically and emotionally.
It is high time that the right question for the student was changed from "How many marks have you got?" to "What have you learned, and how are you going to apply this knowledge?"
