GIIS Kuala Lumpur student Arpan Pandey got an audience with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during his yearly Pariksha Pe Charcha 2021 dialogue with students from all over the globe.

Arpan, a senior student from the Global Indian International School campus, asked a pertinent question on exam stress and requested Mr Modi for advice on how to deal with it. He was concerned about the stress caused during exams and asked how to deal with the pressure to get marks which will eventually lead to a good university for students like him.

Mr Modi, who holds the ‘charcha’ (discussion) annually, advised him to explore why the pressure is caused in the first place and observed that despite knowing the date and time of exams, students face a lot of stress. He observed that it is the expectation of the outcome of the exams, created by societal pressure to perform, which could be the main reason behind the students’ mental state. 

The Prime Minister identified the main problem as busy parents justifying their child’s worth through the marks they get. He said: ”There is more to a child which the parents are unable to understand”, and advised the parents to not pressurise their children and instead help them release their tension by getting more involved. They should not only focus on the child’s academics, career, job prospects but also on their hobbies, skills and out-of-class activities. Parents know their child’s strengths and weaknesses, and during exam time parents should focus more on their child’s strengths and encourage them to build their confidence. 

He also said that exams are not the end of the world. It is actually an opportunity to prepare oneself for the real challenges that one is yet to face. One should in fact keep looking out for such challenges as opportunities to do better in life.

Pariksha Pe Charcha is a very popular annual dialogue Mr Modi has with students of the Indian diaspora and others. The initiative started in 2019 instantly received attention and followership from the student community, who were glad to get an audience from the Prime Minister of the country. Mr Modi also warmed up to his young audiences, and their parents, by touching on sensitive issues in student life and showing understanding and knowledge about things that resonate with the children - including computer games and language barriers. 

The initiative continues to invite questions from students around the world. Malaysian student Arpan Pandey was thrilled to have his question included in this year’s questionnaire and thought his question was pertinent and persistent from a student point of view. 

GIIS has been dealing with Exam Stress among students in their own way, by counselling them nearer to the exams. The Healthline and webinars started by GIIS have received great audiences among students and parents. In the most recent Webinar on Exam Stress, we invited clinical psychologist, Dr Debanjan Banerjee, to speak to them about how to deal with the situation. You can listen to the podcast here or watch the video here.