It’s not just exams that pressure students. It’s the fear of letting us down
Simply telling students to “stress less” is not enough.
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An examination is rarely “just an examination” to a young person.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Imelda Santos Caleon
A student once told me: “I think I don’t really sleep well the night before exams… I don’t know if I am prepared enough, whether I would just panic in the exam and just forget everything.”
For her, the stress was tied partly to the possibility of not meeting her teacher’s expectations. Yet she also described how that same stress pushed her to work harder to prove to her teachers that she can do better.