By Tooba Ahmed
“My daughter got 1070 marks in her intermediate pre-medical.”
“oh, that’s brilliant!”
” but she is not hopeful to go through MCAT this year; she is going to repeat and improve her academics.”
“Hmmm, true saying, such a hard-working girl she is, she must become a doctor and though got good marks but not enough for admission in medical”…
This conversation was between two fathers at a family gathering. At another place, I overheard some ladies chattering about their children, “Uh oh, these marks are below par; he would not be able to get admission in any reputed college…poor lad! We provided our son with the best tuition and academies, and he got an aggregate of 94.5.”
And all the other women were in awe of her fulvic luck. Such insensitive discussions happen door to door across all strata of social gatherings. Young students are humiliated. Parents feel ashamed of their children due to their marks. Eventually, teenage boys and girls are pressed to lift the weight of the heavy expectations of their parents. Monovision of parents makes them to will for their children either to wear white gowns or to have the feather of being ‘Officer’ in their caps. There is no other vent for the dawdlers, and the fallen souls and minds are doomed for the rest of their lives. This derogatory culture of academics shaming needs to be addressed and be shamed itself. We are contaminating the skilful minds of our upcoming future; the youth. They want to pursue their ambitions, execute their career plans and follow their dreams but their elders consider it as thick as two short planks.
Many a Maryam, Arif, Khadim Ali, Arfa Kareem, Laraib Atta and alike minds are killed in the seed. It is highly a time to change our attitudes towards career-making decisions. Many more bright options are lying ahead, which are shaping the modern world. Students should be counselled at their institutions. All the elders, including parents, teachers and the responsible ones, should feel the responsibility to demote this pressure of achieving specific goals and joining a few so-called white collared fields. The aptitude of students should be observed. Those who can’t make it through pen and paper-based tests during their academic life must go for other competitive exams. Those who are more of a techie mind must look their future into Data moderation, Mobile app development, AI, video gaming, and animation making. Others inclined towards arts can move towards fashion designing, event managing, online counselling or entrepreneurship. Freelancing is one of the most demanding facets of the developed globe.
It is rich enough to offer a couple of opportunities like content writing, voice-over services, copywriting, virtual assistance, social media managing, public relations managing etc. I do not aim to pen this column on career counselling, but it is to make the students and parents realize that being a doctor or engineer is not the verge of success or stamp to a successful life. Let the young minds stride to their own. Let us nourish a society where no student may have suicidal thoughts out of societal pressure. Let us abandon this much-used abuse and conceptualize the studies as more appetizing a task.
Hence, the choice of study is the fundamental right of a kid. The world has changed and still changing in Pakitan; therefore, so many preferences and interests have become professions. The child’s appeal, aptitude and knack must be instrumental in choosing the required study for a student. Kids are not machines for parents. Parenting is a sacred trust; however, it requires certain obligations, and the provision of aptitude rights to kids is the primary obligation of parenting. Therefore, parents must comprehend their kids’ educational tendencies and inclinations and provide them with education accordingly. This is the immediate right of the children, and parents must not ignore it.
The writer is a lecturer in English at a Public College
