NEET, CUET controversies fuel anxiety among students and parents

Rita Nambiar, a tutor for ICSE and CBSE students for 45 years, has witnessed a sharp rise in exam-related anxiety over the years. Pic/Atul Kamble

As controversies over exam leaks, result discrepancies, and technical glitches continue to plague major examinations such as National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Common University Entrance Test (CUET), and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), educators and parents say the uncertainty is adding to an already intense pressure cooker environment for students. Concerns about cut-offs, paper leaks, re-examinations and evaluation errors are now becoming part of the experience, forcing families and teachers to focus as much on students' emotional well-being as their academic performance.

Rita Nambiar, a private tutor who has taught ICSE and CBSE students for over four decades, says she has witnessed a sharp rise in exam-related anxiety over the years. "Many times, students come and tell me they are stressed," she says. "They have a fear of not making the cut-off. NEET is very difficult. Children become depressed because of that and the failure from it."

According to Nambiar, societal expectations often worsen the pressure. "You can't tell a child to study 24x7. Why have they burdened them so much?" she asks vehemently. "It's not only affecting their mind, but their body, their thoughts - everything. Even a month under this stress is enough for a child to get sick."

Ruby Chopra and Santosh Yadav

For Santosh Yadav, owner of ACE Private Tuitions, which coaches around 600 students annually for NEET and other entrance examinations, the stress begins long before students enter the exam hall. "There is more awareness today," Yadav says. "Students know the cut-offs, how many students are appearing, how many seats are available. Before you start your journey, you are already stressed."

He points to the overwhelming competition for medical seats as a major source of anxiety. "The negative information gets assembled faster than the positive information," he says. The uncertainty created by alleged paper leaks only compounds the problem. Referring to the 2024 NEET controversy, Yadav says students who had already spent two years preparing felt emotionally drained at the prospect of studying for another month. In fact he stated that unfortunately student suicides due to such exam leaks and re-tests is not uncommon, even in his institute.

"They had made plans to enjoy life after NEET. That enjoyment itself is destroyed and you are asking them to do it again," he says. Yet he says many students showed remarkable resilience. "Our meritorious students felt that it's okay. We'll study for 20 more days or one more month because we have lost an advantage. Refusing to getting bogged down, they said, ‘We'll go ahead and do it'." To help students manage the pressure, Yadav says coaching institutes are increasingly dedicating time to mental well-being.

"We generally do a pep talk," he says, "The first 10 minutes are spent explaining how exactly you're supposed to plan your day, your week, and your month so that you don't get stressed and help them create a rhythm for studies." The institute also conducts regular parent meetings. "In this newer generation, the parents are more stressed than the child," he says, mentioning the high financial investments that parents make.

Parents, meanwhile, find themselves navigating a difficult balancing act between encouraging children to perform well in exams and protecting them from the anxiety surrounding marks and admissions.

Ruby Chopra, whose son will appear for his Class 10 board examinations next year, says academic pressure begins much earlier than most people realise. "Even in his school, where he has been since preschool, they don't entertain a child if they are below a certain percentage. They themselves have their own cut-off," she says, "This is the biggest pressure on children nowadays." She believes incidents such as result discrepancies and evaluation errors can deeply affect a student's motivation.

"That is very bad for the child who has struggled and given his 100 per cent," Chopra says, "This creates an attitude of not liking the concept of studies. Thoughts like, ‘I am doing so much and the result I deserved has not come.'

It is not rewarding as it is supposed to be." At home, her approach is reassurance.

"We can only motivate them," she says, "I can only tell him that you have to give your 100 per cent. How the paper will come, how the checking will be done, that is not in our hands." She also believes conversations around marks need to become more balanced. "As a parent, if you ask me, do you want your child or do you want the marks, I will definitely say my child," Chopra says, "We have so many good career options nowadays. Why create that pressure?"

For educators and parents alike, the message remains the same. While students cannot control exam leaks, result glitches or administrative failures, they need support systems that remind them that their life extends far beyond a scorecard.