Three golden rules to ace Class 12 Board exams

Their overriding concern is this: after 14 years of working hard, with the past few months almost exclusively tied up with books, assignments and mock-exams, have I done enough? After all this studying, is my life going to be based on 5x3 hours of exams? Will I do well enough to get on the next level in academic life, or am I going to lose out by just a fraction of a mark? I am sure these are some of the questions in the minds of all those who are going to face the Board exams. I can assure them, that the answer is NO. 

All the years of studying would have ingrained in the minds of students a lot more things than merely concepts, theories and equations. They would have imbibed value systems and a few other hobbies of passing interest, which is could be the seeding for a great career later on in life. Students would have learnt to compete, experience the joy of success and the sorrow of losses, but they would have also formed lasting bonding with their classmates. They would have a mentor or a role model in one of the teachers. These are going to be of great value once the exams are over! 

No doubt the marks matter a great deal in life. So how does one get these marks? I can recommend three golden rules for this. Nutritious and timely meals, 8 hours of deep sleep and 6 hours of undisturbed, focused studies which includes writing out keywords. 

Many parents offer support system, where they ‘hold’ an exam for the child or come up with quizzes, aimed at taking away the exam pressure. The only thing that matters is how well one is prepared and how much more needs to be covered. This self assessment has to take place in the month of December. Seek help of teachers or classmates if there are weak areas in your understanding of concepts. Now that the exam schedule is out, it is easy to plan the process of acing all the subjects. 

So what happens after the exams? Another frenzy of entrance exams in most cases. But this need not be the case. A calm discussion of what one wants, what one is capable of and the affordability status between the parents and children will go a long way in deciding what to do and what not to do. Writing entrance exams due to peer pressure must definitely be avoided. Sketching out short- term and long -term goals will help plan the action path.

And a word to the parents and elders at home: A Board exam is a family affair! Foregoing the TV, get-togethers and outings for a very brief period will deliver great value addition to your child. And giving more thought and importance to what your child wants and not what you want him/ her to be will ease the pressure off their minds to a great extent. 

School education starts off with parents leaving the children in care of teachers. It is about learning, broadening the mind and learning life skills, including appreciation of art and culture. About evolving as a good human being who contributes to society from a position of his/her strength and not weakness.