A section of parents still insist that their children pursue science in Classes XI and XII despite them having no interest, inclination or the required marks.

The pressure mostly stems from a closed mindset of parents who want their children to pursue medicine or engineering because they have little or no knowledge about the diverse career options available to students, said several principals and psychiatrists.

The Class X ICSE, CBSE and state board results have been published. This is the time when, armed with board results that are often better than the pre-board marks, both parents and children want to make fresh choices. The first subject selection by schools for Class XI is often made on the basis of pre-board results and an admission test for Plus-II.

“There are some students who work hard in the three or four months before the board exams, perform decently, and can qualify for science. But there is a significant difference between the content and difficulty level of the Class XI syllabus and that of Class X, and they find it difficult to cope with the depth and vastness of the science
syllabus. In addition, there is the pressure of competitive exams,” said Arun Dasgupta, principal, Bhavan’s Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir.

Dasgupta said studying science comes with the additional burden of enrolling in coaching institutes to ace competitive exams.

Several schools come across students migrating from one stream to another in Class XI before the registration for Class XII.

“We see students migrating from science to humanities or commerce halfway through Class XI. Some also change subject combinations,” said Joyoti Chaudhuri, principal, Delhi Public School Ruby Park.

The brunt of the rigidness of parents is often borne by the children, many teachers said.

“If parents have pursued science, their knowledge about career prospects in other subjects is nil,” said Seema Sapru, principal, The Heritage School.

The pressure is not just from parents but from peers and extended family, too, teachers said.

“It is humiliating to tell relatives and friends that your ward has opted for any subject other than science, as it is probably not acceptable in the family. Everyone is either a doctor or an engineer. However, they have not kept up with the times,” said Sapru.

The principal of The BSS School, Sunita Sen, said the latent desires of parents often lead them to impose career options on their children.

“If the parents could not, they want their children to pursue science. But instead, they need to have an open mind. There is no point studying science for the sake of it and then ultimately having to shift to a stream like law or design,” said Sen.

The rigid mindset of parents often leads to stress, anxiety or even depression in a child, said a psychiatrist.

“We get routine referrals for students of Classes XI and XII or the first year of graduation with stress, anxiety or even depression because they are forced to study something they did not want to,” said psychiatrist Sanjay Garg.

He said instead of imposing their choices on children, parents should try to identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses, and then help them make a choice.

“A parent may not always know best. So, they can take the help of career counsellors or
the school. There has to be an open discussion with the child,” said Garg.