Would You Survive School in India Today? A Discussion on Pressure, Marks and the Student Experience
Would You Survive School in India Today?
A Discussion on Pressure, Marks and the Student Experience
Imagine going back to school today—not as a parent, teacher or former student, but as a 15-year-old. Would you enjoy it? Would you cope with the pressure? And would you still recognise the child you once were?
```It's 6:30 in the morning.
Your alarm rings.
You have school today.
There is homework you didn't finish.
A test is coming.
Your parents have already reminded you about your marks.
Your WhatsApp group is full of messages about assignments.
Somewhere online, someone your age is posting about winning a competition, scoring 98%, getting selected for something—or simply appearing to have a much more exciting life.
You get ready.
You go to school.
And the day begins.
Now imagine doing this every day while everyone keeps asking one question:
“How much did you score?”
Would you survive it?
That is not an accusation.
It is a question worth asking.
Because adults often remember their school years through photographs.
Students experience them through ordinary Tuesdays.
We remember the annual day.
They remember the Monday morning test.
We remember our favourite teacher.
They remember the teacher whose class they were afraid to enter.
We remember playing with friends after school.
They may remember coming home and immediately starting another round of tuition, homework and preparation.
The same school can look completely different depending on which side of the classroom you are standing on.
The pressure doesn't always come from one place
It is tempting to blame parents.
Or schools.
Or examinations.
Or social media.
But student pressure is rarely that simple.
It can come from several directions at once.
“You can do better.”
“The exam is important.”
“What did you get?”
“Look how well everyone else is doing.”
“What if I'm not good enough?”
The last voice can be the loudest.
When marks become a child's identity
Marks are useful.
They help schools understand academic performance. They help students identify areas where they need improvement. They can matter for admissions and future opportunities.
The problem begins when a number becomes a description of the person.
95% becomes “brilliant.”
75% becomes “average.”
55% becomes “not serious.”
And suddenly, a complicated human being has been reduced to a percentage.
A mark tells us how a student performed on an assessment.
It does not tell us how curious they are, how kind they are, how creative they are, how resilient they are—or what they might become.
“Why can't you be like them?”
Few sentences have done more damage to student confidence.
The comparison may sound harmless.
“Look at your cousin.”
“Look at your friend.”
“Look at the student who came first.”
But comparison hides something important:
You rarely know the complete story of the person you're comparing your child with.
Different abilities. Different circumstances. Different interests. Different support systems. Different personalities.
Even two students sitting in the same classroom do not start from exactly the same place.
School doesn't always end when the bell rings
For many Indian students, the school day is only the first part of the academic routine.
Then come tuition classes.
Coaching.
Homework.
Practice tests.
Revision.
Another test.
And somewhere in between, a child is expected to eat, sleep, play, talk to friends and simply be a child.
The question isn't whether extra academic support is good or bad.
The question is whether the student still has enough space left to breathe.
We keep asking children to prepare for the future.
Sometimes we forget they are also living in the present.
Does more homework mean more learning?
Not necessarily.
Practice matters. Repetition matters. Completing work independently matters.
But the quantity of work is not the same as the quality of learning.
A tired student copying answers at 11 p.m. may technically be completing homework.
That doesn't automatically mean meaningful learning is taking place.
Sometimes the better question isn't “Did the student finish the worksheet?”
It is “Did the student understand something today?”
And then there is the phone
Adults often say students are addicted to their screens.
Students often say adults don't understand how important technology is to their lives.
Both sides have a point.
Phones can distract.
Social media can create unhealthy comparison.
Constant notifications can make concentration harder.
But technology is also where students communicate, create, learn, research and discover opportunities.
The answer cannot simply be:
```“Put the phone away.”
Students also need to learn:
When to use technology. When to switch it off. How to verify information. How to protect privacy. How to avoid letting an algorithm decide what deserves their attention.
```The exam is only a few hours. The fear can last much longer.
Exams are part of education.
They test knowledge under specific conditions. They can help students prepare for competitive academic environments.
But the emotional meaning attached to exams can become much larger than the examination itself.
A student may begin thinking:
“If I fail this, I've failed.”
Failed what?
One test?
One subject?
One academic year?
Or the image they had created of themselves?
A healthy education system must teach students how to prepare for failure—not pretend failure will never happen.
Teachers are under pressure too.
It is easy to imagine the classroom as a place where adults have all the power and students have all the pressure.
Reality is more complicated.
Teachers are expected to complete syllabi, maintain discipline, assess students, communicate with parents, prepare lessons, manage classrooms and deliver academic results.
Many teachers are also trying to adapt to AI, new technology and changing expectations about education.
A better student experience requires supporting teachers too.
```Most parents aren't trying to create pressure.
They are trying to create a future.
They worry because competition is real.
They push because they want their children to have opportunities they may not have had.
The intention can be love.
The experience can still feel like pressure.
That difference is worth talking about.
```What students may actually be asking for
Perhaps students aren't asking for a school without discipline.
They aren't necessarily asking for fewer expectations.
They may simply be asking for something adults sometimes forget:
“See me as a person, not just as a result.”
A student can be ambitious and exhausted at the same time.
They can want good marks and still hate the pressure around them.
They can respect their teacher and disagree with a school rule.
They can love learning and dislike homework.
They can want a successful career and still have no idea what that career should be.
Contradictions don't make students difficult. They make them human.
If we could change five things tomorrow
01. Make questions valuable.
Reward students for thinking, not only for reproducing the expected answer.
02. Stop using comparison as motivation.
Help students compete with their previous performance instead of constantly competing with another child.
03. Teach students how to handle failure.
A poor result should lead to reflection, feedback and another attempt—not a permanent label.
04. Give students some ownership.
Projects, choices and student-led discussions can make learning feel less like something being done to them.
05. Protect time to simply be young.
Play, friendships, hobbies, sleep and unstructured time aren't enemies of education. They are part of growing up.
So… would you survive school in India today?
Could you handle the academic competition?
The constant comparison?
The screen-time arguments?
The expectations from home?
The pressure to decide your future before you have figured yourself out?
Maybe the better question isn't whether you would survive.
It's whether we can make school a place where students don't have to merely survive it.
```The conversation we need to have
Schools are not failing simply because students feel pressure.
Parents are not bad parents because they care about marks.
Teachers are not bad teachers because they demand discipline.
Students are not lazy because they want more balance.
The education system is complicated because the world students are preparing for is complicated.
The answer isn't to remove every challenge.
It is to make sure the challenge is meaningful.
It is to make sure ambition doesn't destroy wellbeing.
It is to make sure discipline doesn't become humiliation.
It is to make sure marks don't become identity.
And above all, it is to remember that the student is not the exam.
One day, today's students will become tomorrow's parents, teachers, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, artists and leaders.
The kind of school they experience today will influence the kind of world they build tomorrow.
```So perhaps we should ask them one more question.
“If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be?”
And then, for once, instead of immediately explaining why it cannot be done—
listen to the answer.
In 30 Seconds
```- Students today face pressure from academics, family expectations, competition, peers and social media.
- Marks are important, but they should not become a student's identity or measure of personal worth.
- Technology creates both opportunities and distractions, making digital literacy increasingly important.
- Parents often apply pressure because they care about their children's future, but intention and experience can be different.
- Teachers also face significant pressure and need support to create healthier learning environments.
- Students need challenge and discipline—but also voice, dignity, balance, curiosity and room to grow.
