Marks Don’t Matter: Why Can’t We Motivate Kids to Learn, Not Score

Marks are no reason to kill yourself, Quintees reassure young students.

We must encourage kids to learn and not just score marks in an exam. 

(Photo: iStock)

Why must a student kill himself/herself for scoring less marks in Class 10 or Class 12 board examinations? We have advised students time and again that a good score sets the yardstick for success. Whether it’s for admission in colleges or to garner social prestige, we compel kids to score well in exams.

Yet again, students are taking their own lives because they, or their parents, feel that their "board marks aren't good enough". So we at The Quint have a message for all the young students who have been told that their marksheets are disappointing.

What would you tell a student who’s feeling the blues after results? Record a short video or write a couple of lines and post it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram tagging us @TheQuint and saying #marksdontmatter.

Share your story with #MarksDontMatter and tag @thequint. (Photo: The Quint)

Here’s ONE piece of wisdom
For students out there, yes all of you
Just drink THREE words like water
MARKS DON’T MATTER
Maybe you aimed for a six but got a FOUR
Maybe you came 400th, 40th, 4th?
You’re more than what your marks are worth
So before you give hurt a high-FIVE
Or head for the dark abyss with a headlong dive
Right there! On your SIX
Could be life’s biggest fix
Who knows what you’ll grow up to be
The wonders you’ll touch, feel and see
Maybe you’ll own a dozen cars and bikes
Or sail through the seven seas
Maybe you’ll juggle vials in a lab or flip files
Or become the next Rajinikanth with even more style
You’re the EIGHTH wonder the world’s
Waiting to see
You don’t have NINE lives, don’t go messing with this one
You’re tense I know but your 10th boards ain’t as
Intense as you feel
It’s not a war, you’ve not lost
It’s not the ELEVENth hour and it sure as hell won’t last
As the clock strikes twelve, park your guilt and your anger
And throw it away into the river of the past
It’ll be dawn soon, a new tomorrow
Seize the day my friend, instead of embracing sorrow

(Poem by - Vikram Venkateswaran)