Helping children develop positive outlook TOWARDS SCHOOLING

I often get asked this question during workshops: “How can parents create a supportive environment that enables children to better cope with exam stress and develop a positive outlook towards schooling?”

- DR. SAMIR H. DALWAI

The answer begins by reversing the question. Unless one has a “positive” outlook towards schooling, there cannot be a supportive environment that helps children cope with exam stress.

Unfortunately, if school is associated only with academic outcome, there will always be a hyper-isolated focus on examination, inevitably leading to exam stress. Subsequently, failure/ inability to score high in examinations is viewed as a pervasive failure leading to children experiencing depression and even committing self-harm.

Here are some strategies for parents to change this situation. I call this a recipe — there is no exact formula; you can mix the ingredients as you like!

PARENTS, BE MINDFUL OF

What you believe is the role of education and schooling. It is important to remind oneself that school is a place where children are introduced to the real world in a safe space, not merely a place to acquire a degree/qualification.