Since last few days, social media platforms are flooded with the posts flaunting board exam results. Around 50% of students scored 90% and above in the ICSE 12th exam and 72% of students scored more than 80%. In the CBSE 12th exam, 13.2% of students scored 90% and above marks. A girl named Divyanshi Jain scored 100%. Isn’t it ridiculous? Race for scoring higher marks is creating a delusional state of mind for students because 99% marks in boards not taking them anywhere. There are several reasons why 95% marks the not enough:

1. Only very few of the toppers can crack the competitive exams. In JEE Mains 2019, the total number of appeared is 9,35,741, and qualified is only 1,61,319. Out of 1,61,319, only 38,705 qualified JEE Advance. Only 4.1% qualified for admission in IITs, NITs, and IITs. The percentage of qualified candidates for the AIIMS MBBS entrance exam was 3.36% in 2019. Only 6.34% of candidates qualified for the CLAT exam. The percentage of qualifying candidates in the exams like CAT, CSIR NET, UPSC, and CDS is 5%, 6%, 0.2%, and 0.1% respectively.

Why the number of qualifies candidates in competitive exams is very low? If 50% of students are scoring 90% or more than that then why they are not able to qualify competitive exams?

The major reason behind this is our education system which focuses more on scoring the highest marks rather than learning. The majority of students score well in board exams, but they lack a conceptual understanding of the subject. This type of education system is creating educated ignoramuses. To qualify competitive exams, candidates need to exhibit impromptu intelligence and decision-making capacity to solve very confusing multiple-choice questions.

2. Those who qualify these competitive exams and enter into big institutions for their studies; some of them are also failed to get a degree with good grades. Many of them failed to cope up with the stringent system of these institutions. In the last five years, more than 60 students at IITs and IIMs committed suicide. It shows that even after qualifying the toughest exams, they could not cope up with the challenges of life. The Indian education system has a severe dearth of classes such as life skills and mental health which are indispensable.

3. Those who completed their degrees and got placed in multinational companies with very high packages are also failed to lead a happy life. Certainly, higher marks or grades don’t help people in their workplace. It also doesn’t help in leading a happy and blissful life.

Our education system didn’t teach about financial literacy, leadership, communication skills, empathy, and accountability. Most of the people with high IQ lack EQ.

Natural resources, technology, and capital are the major ingredients of the economic growth of the country, but the main ingredient is the quantity and quality of manpower. India has a huge quantity of manpower, but the quality is nowhere as compared to international standards.  To accelerate the pace of economic development we need well-educated and properly trained manpower. This can be achieved by making radical reforms in the education system in India. Learning should be the objective of education, instead of scoring 95% marks.

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