What Every Parent Should Know to Reduce Examination Stress: Some Intervention Strategies

Abstract

This paper is intended to explore the intervention strategies which can be carried out by the parents at home for reducing the examination stress of school students. The gravity of the issue of reducing examination stress has been addressed in the National Curriculum Framework – 2005 which has suggested various reforms in the examination system like enhancement of time for answering the question paper, examination of shorter duration, making class Xth public examination optional, reporting of students’ performance in terms of grades, flexibility in opting the subjects of choice for study and examinations, on demand examination, introduction of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) etc. Consequently, Boards of School Education have initiated number of reforms to address this issue. Apart from these efforts, role of school and home cannot be overlooked to come out from this problem because most of time child be either at school or at home. At home, child can be helped in various situations by following various interventional strategies like handling of parental behavior, health and nutrition care, creating congenial physical environment, cognitive and academic assistance, social- emotional supports and some stress busting mechanisms. Each strategy is discussed in detail highlighting the role of family particularly the parents in number of situations.