Dutch school bans parents from accessing children's grades to reduce stress
Amsterdam: A secondary school in the Netherlands has reportedly barred parents from accessing grades of their children in a bid to reduce academic stress among students.
According to a report in The Guardian, the school has imposed a month-long pause on sharing the results with 95 percent of parents receptive to the proposal and the parents' council insisting on a 10-week suspension.
Students must meet specific grade average to progress to the next class in Netherlands, which can put considerable pressure on them to maintain high academic performance throughout the year.
Stijn Uittenbogaard, an economics teacher at Jordan - Montessori Lyceum Utrecht, found that a widely used app that shared every grade with the parents increased the stress of children. Uittenbogaard studied nearly half of the children at school and found that when parents checked the app regularly, children rated their stress at 2.7 out of five. Those whose parents were not constantly checking reported a level of two.
"This pressure for students to achieve is really a modern thing in my opinion. When I was at school, there was a report four times a year, but otherwise, you could tell your parents when and what you wanted," Uittenbogaard was quoted as saying by the publication.
"Now parents can get a push notification on their telephones: 'Hey, your child has had a new result,' and the child comes home with their parents sitting ready for a conversation. This is appalling," he added.
Following Uittenbogaard's findings, the school rector, Geert Looyschelder, accepted the proposal. Looyschelder believes that the anxiety with grades in the Dutch education system is hindering the development of essential life skills like empathy and flexibility.
"The fact that parents are looking over the students' shoulders only causes stress. In our education system, we always say: 'You have the right to make mistakes. That's how you learn,” he explained.
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T''gana govt accorded top priority to Muslim welfare, development : CM Reddy
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday said the Congress government has accorded top priority to the welfare and development of the Muslim community in the state.
Speaking at the 'Iftar' event hosted by the state government here, he observed that Ramzan is the holy month of spiritual purification.
"We must foster brotherhood and live together in communal harmony," Reddy said while cautioning that some political forces are attempting to create communal tension by dividing people in the country.
"This government is yours. I am your brother. All must stand unitedly to take Telangana and the country forward. Your prayers are very important for the government. Some people try to create divisions amongst us and we should not fall into it," he said.
He highlighted substantial allocation of funds to the Muslim minorities in every government initiative.
Telangana ministers including Mohammad Azharuddin, AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi were among those who were present on the occasion.
