NEW DELHI: In his monthly radio broadcast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday blamed parents for the burden on children to perform well in exams, even as he urged students not to be nervous and make it a life and death issue.
In his ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme, Modi said most of the “psychological burden” on students was due to pressure by parents worried over peer pressure from relatives and friends. He said parents should talk to their children about the larger picture of life instead of pushing for top results. Trying to assuage worries, Modi pointed out that he was an “ordinary student”. “I didn’t scored exceptionally well in the exams I gave and have poor handwriting also,” he said.
With the World Cup coinciding with the board exams, he used cricket analogies to drive home his point. “A good batsman never thinks about his performance in the last match, or the last over or the last ball or for that matter the outcome of the match. He only focuses on a particular ball. Similarly, you should focus only on a particular paper, instead of thinking about how you did in the last one,” Modi said.
Praising girls, he said that unlike boys who locked themselves and got irritated, they helped their mothers in household chores even during exams and mostly performed better.