Preparing Students for Life Beyond Exams

Context

1. Students continue to be evaluated mainly on marks and grades, while essential qualities such as empathy, courage, emotional maturity and responsibility receive little attention in classrooms.
2. Many young adults struggle in real-life situations involving teamwork, disagreement, criticism and decision-making because these skills are not meaningfully cultivated during schooling.
3. The need is being felt to help students understand power not as superiority, but as a responsibility that must be exercised with awareness, fairness and concern for others.

Ethical Issues Involved

1. Narrow Definition of Success
   1. Success is often measured only through exam scores, which leads students to believe that academic rank defines their worth.
   2. This discourages exploration of individual strengths and interests, resulting in a fragile sense of identity.
   3. Emotional stability reduces because failure in marks is seen as failure of the self.
2. Misunderstanding of Power
   1. Students are not guided to understand how influence works in relationships, institutions and communities.
   2. When power is held without self-awareness, it is easily expressed as arrogance, dominance or insensitivity.
   3. When students assume they have no power, they gradually stop expressing opinions or taking initiative.
3. Dependence on External Validation
   1. Praise, rankings and recognition become the primary source of motivation.
   2. This weakens intrinsic motivation, such as learning out of curiosity or working with sincerity.
   3. Identity becomes shaped by comparison rather than reflection, which reduces confidence and authenticity.
4. Weak Ethical Decision-Making Capacity
   1. Real-life dilemmas rarely offer one correct answer; they require judgment rooted in values.
   2. Ethical foundations like Gandhi’s principle of self-restraint, Aristotle’s virtue ethics, and Kant’s duty-based morality are not integrated into everyday learning.
   3. As a result, students grow academically competent but ethically uncertain.
5. Limited Development of Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
   1. Students learn to complete tasks, but not to understand people’s perspectives, emotions or struggles.
   2. They struggle to handle criticism, failure or differences in opinion.
   3. In the absence of empathy, power can easily turn humiliating, while humility becomes rare.

Course of Action

1. Integrating Value-Based Education into Everyday Learning
   1. Discussions on fairness, honesty, responsibility and kindness should be a regular part of classroom interaction.
   2. These values must be experienced through practice, reflection and participation rather than memorised as moral slogans.
   3. Students should be encouraged to think about how their actions affect the dignity and well-being of others.
2. Teaching Power as Responsibility
   1. Students must be shown how influence arises from reliability, kindness, knowledge and integrity, not from authority or competition.
   2. They should understand that power is meaningful only when it uplifts and strengthens others.
   3. Civics and ethics can be linked to real situations, encouraging responsible citizenship.
3. Strengthening Social and Emotional Learning
   1. Collaborative tasks and peer projects should be used to build cooperation and mutual respect.
   2. Students should be trained to listen, express disagreement respectfully and resolve conflicts without aggression.
   3. Reflection sessions can help students identify their emotions and respond instead of reacting.
4. Encouraging Self-Reflection for Identity Formation
   1. Journals, mentorship sessions and guided conversations can help students discover what unique value they bring to a group.
   2. Mindfulness practices can help develop patience, clarity and resilience.
   3. Success should be reframed as personal growth, not comparison.
5. Presenting Ethical Role Models
   1. P.J. Abdul Kalam showed how knowledge can empower society without ego.
   2. Jemimah Rodrigues demonstrated grace and self-belief in the face of public criticism.
   3. Gukesh showed dignity in victory and defeat, proving that true power is quiet and steady.
   4. Civil servants like Armstrong Pame, who mobilised communities to build infrastructure, show that authority gains meaning when used for collective good.

Conclusion

Education must nurture individuals who combine competence with compassion and confidence with humility. When students learn to use their abilities to serve rather than overpower, they grow into responsible citizens who strengthen society and honour their own humanity.