R.I.P fun@school

Im blogging after a very long time. Although I can blame my schedule and dozen other things for this the only plausible explanation is my mental lethargy.Now that I have finally shrugged it off and sat down to write something, i feel that times have indeed changed from my childhood and now. This change as i see it pertains to the attitude of todays parents towards the education of their child.
Last month the Class X boards results were announced. One of my cousins had appeared for it and scored nearly 96% and topped his school.This is a score i would have really been proud of, but what i saw in him was not pride or elation. But relief followed by anxiety.Relief, i guess,
for having lived upto the expectation of his parents, family and many others.Anxiety about what lies ahead: new goals(IIT?90+ in Class XII? etc) ,fresh preparations and return to the strict regime that ensured the previous success.
And he isnt an isolated incident.He is part an epidemic which has the whole country under its grip and the end is no where in sight.This is a new competitive nation and there competition in the classroom as well.And how are the winners decided? On the basis of the marks they have scored.The guy who topped the school with 99.8% marks is the winner.The guy who came second with 99.6% is only second best.It doesnot matter if the winner lacks social skills, has had no physical activity for the past one year(since he was busy preparing for his exam),
has mugged up most of his lesson and doesnt know how to use his lesson in his life. In the eyes of the school, family and friends he is a champion. Someone who scores 90% inspite of his extra-curricular activities is derided saying he never had the focus to succeed.
This is what score/percentage/marks has done to the students and most importantly their parents today.
Im not saying that focusing on academics is bad,what im saying is there is a difference between learning and learning by rote.Have the parents who spent sleepless nights devising strategies for their child's exam ever thought what would the grades or percentages mean in the long run?Would the marks really matter when the students grows up and faces a practical competitive world where his/her ability to score high grades are not the only ability required.What will he think when he grows up and finds that he didnot enjoy the formative years of his life just because he was busy chasing marks in the board exams?It is indeed sad that young people are forced to pick up hobbies so that they can use the extra marks awarded from these hobbies to gain a competitive advantage.Why would a boy try to be a good player in his sports team when he knows that him being part of the team is good enough to get him 20 points.
It would be a great effort on the part of parents to do a little homework of their own.Why not list out a few eminent personalities in different fields and find out what made them successful. Im sure they will find many other things other than academics.Why not try and instill these qualities in their children? Rather than forcing them to memorise sample answers and solve the zillions of maths problems. They would be doing a great service to the future of their child.Not to mention the great service to the nation at this stage of her development.
What our nation needs at this juncture is workers who are creative, talented, confident and versatile.What it does not need is factory produced robot who do as they are instructed.

It would indeed be heartening to see kids (that i have/will come across) doing well in school, learning new things , discovering their talents, channelising their curiosity, dreaming and developing passions. What would be tragic is seeing them as prisoners of their parents spineless ambitions.