The key point that I was specifying in these workshops can be summed up in an age old proverb “the last straw on the camel’s back”. When we hear about the extreme steps that children take during exam times the most common practice is to blame the ‘last straw’ - the kid committed suicide because the schools forced the child or the parents were pressurizing the child, blame game all. We do not look beyond the obvious.  What is important is for schools and homes to create pressure vents for children during exam times. Allow them to play for a bit during exams, eat well, sleep well, talk to them about things beyond studies, share a laugh and encourage them to spend some time on their hobbies during exam time. These and many other such small ‘vents’ go a long way in helping children relax which in-turn helps them to perform better during exams.
“These workshops are not for our school, they need to be done in schools that put too much pressure on children.” This was apparently a comment that an administrative head made when our team member went to invite a school in Bangalore for a workshop titled ‘Mission Exams’, aimed at equipping schools to handle exam stress better. Over the past decade whenever I have got feedback of this kind from schools it makes me believe that these are the kind of schools that need more help than the others. As fate would have it, last week I got the news that a class 10 girl student from that school committed suicide a few days before the board exams. Such incidents make us more resilient to continue to work with schools irrespective of what some educators think and inspite of all the negativity around.  We march on to create a generation of children who have a smile on their face and a sparkle in their eyes.

Talking about ‘vents’ it is high time that you as educators and principals realized its importance in your own lives. In the month of April or May most schools across India break for atleast a few weeks. If the school takes a break there is no reason why the principals should stay behind. In the coming holidays make sure that you spend some time off your routine doing things that you have always wanted to do – visit that city/country, spend time with that friend/relative, learn something new and so on. If ‘vents’ work in bringing down exam stress in children, I am sure that it will go a long way in bringing a bigger smile on your face when you return in the next academic year all refreshed and recharged to take on the challenges you have ahead of you.