A generation of stressed children

At dawn, they revise their homework and arrange their textbooks as per the day’s routine. One more hour, and they hurry on with their breakfast, get into crisply ironed uniform and shiny shoes and walk some 30 minutes with their heavy bags to school.

A minimum of five hours then drains them with instructions and some more homework. The school is over for the day, but wait – they have tuitions![break]

This is the daily school life of a generation of seven-year-olds in Nepal, battling grades and meeting expectations at home, in the classrooms and in the gymnasium. Nothing really to cherish in one’s future is there.

What kind of future leaders are we raising? “When children are prevented from playing or carrying out their likes and hobbies, the mental development is hampered during the teenage years,” says Sharmila Maharjan, psychological counselor and stress management consultant.

“Teenagers and youth in their early 20s getting introvert, aggressive and falling into depression have their base in their early childhood. These trends pose big questions not only to the educational system of the country but the quality of the future workforce.”

Sitashma Risal, a grade one student, spends most of her time after school with her textbooks. And as if the day’s pressure was not enough, her tuition teacher arrives at five in the evening, helps her with the homework and makes her revise the day’s classes.

Two hours with the revision, Risal now finds herself immersed in the newfound homework assigned by her tutor.

“I don’t have time to play or do anything other than studying,” the six-year-old told The Week.

“When kids are overly pressurized in education and studies, they are trained to think in only one direction. This increases the chances of their inability to express themselves fully. Aggression and loneliness remain their only defense and when those fail, they fall into depression,” adds Maharjan.

“The problem of early childhood stress becomes serious when parents don’t acknowledge it. Adults fail to distinguish between childhood stress and their own.”

“I have no stress managing my millions worth of business and he finds it stressful writing an A,” Maharjan recalls a parent’s response when she had confronted him over his child’s stressful situation. “In cases of stressed children, it’s important to counsel parents more than the children.”

Risal’s mother Samita also denies of putting her daughter into stressful study hours. “I think Sitashma needs help with her studies and tuitions are necessary since I can’t help her with her homework and I have chores at home to take care of,” she explains.

But not all parents feel the same way and rather criticize the “aggressive” education system. Laxman Ghimire, father of a seven year old, wishes his child could pursue whatever she wished to but he is sad that the school and her homework leave her no time.

“We never worry about her studies. We’re aware that if we stress too much, she’ll lose her curiosity to learn new things,” he says.

Children involved in various activities and having busy schedules can be healthy if it is according to their wish, says Ganga Pathak, Associate Professor of Psychology at Tribhuvan University.

“The involvement of children in various activities helps them realize their own potentials and hidden talents. They will learn about social interaction and environmental issues which will be helpful in life. But they need good exposure to other fields apart from studies.”

“Schools should emphasize learning but they are focused on teaching,” says Dr Bidyanath Koirala, Professor of Education at Tribhuvan University.“Education in schools follows the pace of a teacher and not the students’. Individual development isn’t at all respected,” he points out and criticizes private schools for creating strict environment for education that further stresses the students.

Koirala insists that a research should be carried out to reform the current education system in Nepal: “There have been many researches in other countries and they have successfully reformed their educational system. The organization of private schools can carry out such research and act according to its results to prevent or reduce early childhood stress.”

The teachers in the primary section of Little Angels’ School at Ekanta Kuna, , however, claim that they follow student-centric education models.

“We don’t have the system of declaring students first, second and third. Instead, we give them grades,” says Vidya Subba, primary in-charge of the school. She adds that they don’t depend on the exams for evaluating students; it’s their overall performances that matter. “Exams are a lot of stress to kids.”

Professor Dr Mahesh Nath Parajuli of Kathmandu University School of Education also feels that the current education system in Nepal emphasizes too much on exams.

He also criticizes the schools that claim to follow Montessori or grading system because they categorize students to just two groups – fast learners and slow learners. “The life of the latter group is no less than a battleground to move on to the other group,” he says.

Subba agrees that schools also have to depend on rote study. “But the education system of Nepal doesn’t allow schools to be very flexible with teaching methods,” she says.

Accordingly, students are expected to excel in everything according to the prevalent education system. Materialistic lifestyle also influences parents to want their children to compete and succeed from a very early age. Also, social comparison and judgment enforce parents to expect higher of what their kids are capable of.

“Some programs, such as Continuous Assessment System (CAS) have been initiated in some government schools,” adds Parajuli. “The program gives emphasis to individual children according to their overall activity but its effectiveness is doubtful as teachers and parents lack orientation.”

“The major backlash in the education system is because primary teachers aren’t given enough importance, and likewise they are deprived of proper training,” Subba points out.

“SLC graduates are appointed primary teachers in many private schools. They know nothing about child psychology and no interest in kids or teaching.”

At this juncture of education, where an entire generation of future workforce is already stressed, teachers not only decide how a child is to be treated or motivated, they could be vital in also changing the perception of parents. And if parents and teachers regard their children’s voice in their academics and skills development, their stress could be remarkably minimized.

“Learning is effective when it’s natural as much as possible. But the mindset regarding education won’t change overnight. It’s a long-term and continuous process of discussions and awareness,” Parajuli comments on the challenges ahead.