Exams and Certificates Not Needed to Make Life Beautiful
by Rowan Salim
Thousands of children and young people in India die as a result of the education system every year. The highest rate of suicides among Indians is among people aged 15–29. This suicide rate peaks over the exam period. In 2014, 2,403 suicides were directly attributed to failure in examinations. One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is the high levels of stress due to intensely competitive exams and family pressure to perform well in school. Success in life is equated with success in formal education, with very little room left to imagine alternative lifestyles.
A group of education hackers in India, part of Shikshantar’s “Hacking the Education System Fellowship,” decided to challenge the idea that success and happiness is dependent on attainment in the formal education system. They created posters in Hindi which read:
“To make life beautiful, exams and certificates are not necessary”
They visited shopkeepers and chai wallas in the neighbourhood of Fatehpura in Udaipur, Rajasthan. They spoke to the shopkeepers about what makes their life beautiful, and invited them to write their own personal statements of what makes them happy and content. The shopkeepers agreed that while they value learning, their happiness is not related to whether or not they had passed exams or had certificates.
The local laundryman failed his 8th standard exam repeatedly. He said that his family is what gives beauty to his life. He works hard to make a living but it is his home life which makes him happy. He feels that children today are under a lot of pressure to perform in exams. He put up a poster at the front of his shop to invite people to talk about this issue.
Fareeda the fruit seller finished school and has a degree but loves her job and loves being surrounded by fruit and talking to customers. That is what she says makes her life beautiful. She is constantly asked by friends and family why she is selling fruit since she has a degree. But she keeps doing what she loves doing.
The sweetshop man finished 12th standard. He is grateful for his loving family and his successful business and is happy with what he does. He sees a lot of university graduates with many degrees, but who walk around unemployed. He feels that today’s generation are “like sheep”, busy following the flock.
Dr. S.H. Joon was a teacher and a college principal for many years before running his own stationary store. He feels that a beautiful life is about hard work and dedication to your work regardless of what it is. He feels that exams fail students but that we should appreciate our failures in life as learning opportunities which make us stronger. He described how an ant may climb a wall and fall down over and over again, but she will always try to climb the wall again.
The exam system however is based on a fundamental principle that that there are winners and losers. A system which labels youngsters as failures and robs them of their learning.
One of the posters was put up outside an ATM where customers wait for their turn. The poster reads “I grow my own food. To make life beautiful, exams and certificates are not necessary”
Users were then invited to reflect on what makes their lives happy.
Finally, a public poster was put up on a tree recognising the inherent qualities of living beings which can in no way be tested or certified. Trees oxygenate the air, clean the atmosphere, cool the climate and offer shade and a home for hundreds of creatures. It would be preposterous to try to test or certify such gifts. Each person is similarly a gift in themselves. But the examination and certification culture is overlaying these inherent gifts with labels which stratify and divide our society to the extent that we oversee the myriad gifts each of us have and can share.
The poster immediately gathered a crowd and generated discussions. And we invite you to join us in this discussion as well.
