WHEN MARKS MATTER MORE THAN MINDS

HOW OUR OBSESSION WITH GRADES IS SILENTLY FAILING A GENERATION

- SAIMA BASHIR

After more than a decade in school leadership, one thing has become painfully clear: most parents do not simply send their children to school for learning.

They send them to be measured. Assessed. Compared. Scored. Somewhere between notebooks and notice boards, between homework charts and result sheets, the child - the actual, breathing, wondering child - gets lost.

Parents approach teachers with genuine concern, asking, "How is my child doing?" But there is always something unspoken behind the question - a silent competition, a need for reassurance that their child is ahead, not behind. That reassurance, however, too often depends on numbers. The child's imagination, kindness, and curiosity rarely make it to the report card.

This hunger for measurable success transforms the school environment. It creates pressure that spills over into classrooms, into staff meetings, into the psyche of every learner. When a child struggles with numbers, language, or comprehension - the discomfort rarely stays with the child alone. It shifts, often subtly, onto the teacher. Parents start to wonder, "Is the school doing enough?" "Is the teacher competent?" Instead of approaching learning as a journey, it becomes a transaction.