For students, by students

[dhilipkumar]

For students, by students

Exam stress is a 'serious' modern day problem and most students believe there is not enough being done to counter this. The need now, they say, is to look at the 'symptoms' of stress rather than adding to the pressure.

However, the most important aspect as they point out is that a student's desires and aspirations must be encouraged and not sidelined in the pursuit of marks — these were some of the findings brought to light when a group of students were surveyed to ascertain the causes for increasing exam-related stress. In fact, the survey was conducted by students themselves.

It was conducted by Pragya Mahendru, Tarini Sahai and Devika Monga — class XI students from Modern School, Vasant Vihar. They surveyed 1,036 students, who took board exams in last three years, across Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Sonepat.

The results of the survey have been compiled in the form of a report that attempts to provide a student's perspective on the issue. The reason for conducting such a survey was to help their peers, having experienced the same stress while appearing for their class X board exams.

Classifying exam-related stress as 'influenced stress,' they elaborated, "From our survey, we gathered that a major reason for this stress is the expectations imposed on us by our parents, teachers and family members. Thus, this stress is not self-generated and is instead induced upon students. And hence, we call it influenced stress."

They added that the symptoms of such stress were many, including loss of sleep, headaches, inability to concentrate, loss of appetite, constant fear of unfavourable outcomes, cranky behaviour, a short temper and aggressive behaviour, among others.

Further, most respondents (students) pointed out that following simple tips while taking an exam could go a long way. These included attempting all questions, self confidence and avoiding talking to people who were nervous themselves.

Major findings:

• 39% of the students felt that the syllabus was too vast, despite studying for approximately five to seven hours every day.

• 4% students said that they had experienced a point during exam preparation when they felt like breaking down.

• 33% students took a break only after every two hours of study.

• Teachers and tutors were the main cause of excessive pressure.

• Friends and peer networking was the best stress buster.