Grades are not indicative of intelligence; thus, it is essential to emphasise learning over marks, collaboration and teamwork over isolated rote learning, and creativity over the use of ChatGPT. This has been communicated to students at The Heritage School who will sit for Class X examinations in the forthcoming months.

“Life is not about cracking an examination but being able to think, learn, execute, work hard and have the ability to be a team player,” principal Seema Sapru wrote.

The letter was sent to students of Class X in December. It was directed towards those preparing for their ICSE as well as the international curriculum, IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education).

“You are about to sit the ICSE/ IGCSE examinations in the next few months and step into crucial years of Classes XI and XII. Balancing school education with competitive exam preparation will be tough, but you have learned to multitask,” the letter from the principal says.

The Heritage has engaged with students directly at a time when several educational institutions across boards are grappling with issues arising from parents pulling their children out of regular schools to facilitate better preparation for competitive exams.

In a circular sent to schools in August, the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) said a minimum of 75 per cent attendance was mandatory for students of Classes X and XII to be eligible for the board exams.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) mandates at least 75 per cent attendance for ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) students.

Both boards provide exceptions to students in case of medical emergencies and those who excel in sports.

“Children cooped up at the age of 16, 17, 18 years for two years with books without activities, friends, doesn’t make them competent enough to lead a proper social life,” Sapru told Metro.

She said children should be allowed to play, swim, and socialise.

“There will be setbacks, failures and they might not do extremely well, but they will be able to go through life,” she added.

The Heritage wrote in the letter: “Marks are not a measure of your intelligence and therefore choose learning over marks, experience over coaching, physical activity like sports over sedentary lifestyle and gymming, self-study over assisted learning, careful observation over blindly following instructions, creativity over ChatGPT, empathy, collaboration, teamwork over rote learning in silos.”

Hankering for marks is a harsh reality across institutions, something which starts as early as primary school.

Even before children in primary classes can comprehend what marks and exams are, parents fill them up with ideas that marks are paramount, said a veteran teacher from another school.

In the pressure cooker, learning is lost.

Students who obtain outstanding scores may not inevitably perform well later on, but those who gain understanding are expected to excel, a message that numerous teachers are striving to communicate to their students.

In the new national education policy, the emphasis will be equally on practice and theory in higher education.

“This learning will help you in your day-to-day tests in life. You are not writing an examination every day. Life will bring in different exams every day, and one can pass those examinations if one has learnt well,” a teacher said.

Sapru told Metro: “My submission to parents is to let children go through the natural way of learning by interacting with people, mailing friends, by not doing too well in studies, failing sometimes, and bouncing back. Let children play, run about, have heartaches and collect experiences.”