Patience over pressure: A resolution for parents

At the turn of every year, we speak of resolutions, shaped by familiar ideas of self-improvement such as eating better, working harder, or being more disciplined.

- Jayant Chaudhary

When the conversation turns to education, however, resolutions by students and other stakeholders are often framed on the basis of a narrow set of assumptions about what progress should look like, how learning should be assessed, where success should be visible, and how early choices ought to be made. Within our broader social ecosystem, these assumptions often translate into an unspoken script that prioritises higher scores and better grades. The young students who are able to build clarity and capacity for faster specialisation, are considered ahead of the pack. This creates pressures to decide and take a deep dive, long before children have had the time or space to understand their own interests and capacities. This raises questions.