Class X results and Mental Health: Hero-worshipping excellence and writing off average performers can be equally devastating, Dr. Suman Baidya

The result of the 2022 High School Leaving Certificate Examination aka Madhyamik or Metric has been published by the Secondary Education Board of Assam. This year, 56.49% of all candidates have qualified for the HSLC exam. A total of 4,05,582 appeared for the examination. Of these, 65,176 have scored first division, 99,854 were in the second division, and 64,101 were in the third division.

HSLCE or class 10 board exam is considered to be the first big leap in a student’s career in India; as a result, it has its own socio-psychological impact on the students. The fear or phobia of any kind of examination is real and is a separate thing altogether. But the attitude and value connoted by the people, media, and society at large towards high performing students and to the average and below-average performing students are a bit problematic according to the experts.

Especially in a country like India, where one in six children and teenagers aged between 10-19 years of age suffer from depression. As we speak, there is one suicide attempt every three seconds and one death by suicide every forty seconds among our youth.

These statistics alone are alarming enough to take cognizance of the fact that mental health among students is going to be the next crisis. World Health Organization (WHO) declared India to be one of the most depressed countries in the world in the wake of a global pandemic, but the trend was evident in subsequent happiness index published worldwide.

‘Rat Race’ is the phrase that is often cited to denote the current state of affairs of a world from the perspective of a common man who is trying to make a place in society. The phrase ‘Rat Race’, according to the Cambridge Online Dictionary, means a way of life in modern society, in which people compete with each other for power and money.’

With the declaration of SEBA HSLCE results, the names of the toppers or those who performed exceptionally well are doing rounds on social media and on other media platforms. Their lifestyle, their studying pattern, their taste in music and hobbies, and other things will be discussed at length. They will be exemplified as role models or ideals for future aspirants.

And on the other side, the average performer, who has just managed to get the first-class or just managed to qualify for the exam, will have to go through a lot of guilt trips from the family, relatives, and peers. Barak Bulletin Got in touch with Dr Suman Baidya, Consultant Neuro-Psychiatrist, Silchar Medical College and Hospital at this pretext. What is his view on the socio-psychological impact of the traction that the Board results create among the people and in the media.

For those who performed well in the examination, it’s obviously a matter of pride and confidence for them. But we have to keep one thing in mind, this is the High school leaving certificate, earlier it was known as Prabeshika Porikkha (Gateway-Entrance Examination). By qualifying for this exam you will be entering the mighty ocean of knowledge.

“Those who have done well should be encouraged but hero-worshipping should not be done, because they are fresher in the world of knowledge. What follows after HSLC is HS or Degree course, those are totally different than that of class 10,” says Dr. Baidya.

Because, he says, “Metric examination is held on a limited course from a limited set of books and syllabus, but for HS and Graduation the ambit of text and syllabus get expanded by a huge margin. The concepts are complex; it needs sharp analytical capacity.”

He adds, “The encouragement or praising should not make them overconfident of their achievements, as it happens quite often that individual performance and grades reduce significantly in HS, the opposite of which also exist. The downfall is often the result of such overconfidence and the exaggeration or hero-worshipping.”

The key to success is consistency according to Dr. Baidya. Those who performed well should maintain the pace, they have to adapt to the new forms of knowledge and adjust their learning techniques. For those who did average or below average in the exam, there’s no reason for getting hopeless, because this is just the entry point to the world of knowledge, who will become what, it is primarily decided after the HS exam in India. There are lots of opportunities, they have to be determined, one can climb up to the ladder of success from being an average performer and there are lots of precedence of this.

Dr. Baidya explains that from a psychological perspective, superiority and inferiority complex may develop after the results, but the student or the family members have to be empathetic and supportive.

From the mental health perspective, Dr. Baidya, who is trained in child psychiatry, asserts hero-worshipping excellence and writing off average both can be devastating for the future of the ward.