Nowadays, most private and some community schools in the country keep students in school from 6 am to 8 pm. Is it right for their mental and physical development to confine children to the classroom for a long time to get high grades in exams?

Due to the excessive commercialization of education and the unnecessary ambition of parents, students are confined to the classroom. In particular, private schools want to make students pass the exams with good grades, so that more students are attracted to their schools and the number of admissions increases and the business is promoted. Schools are on a mission to make students able to get excellent grades in the final exam by teaching, writing, and studying at any cost to stay safe from the challenge of good grades in exams. They want to please their parents and run their business well. And, private school students get good grades. And, fearing that the number of students in community schools will decrease, community schools are also learning from private schools.

It is natural for parents to expect their children to do well in exams. However, the above method of achieving good exam results is wrong. In our society, the main criterion for measuring teaching and learning is the grade obtained by the student in the final exam of the class. Parents consider this as the criterion for the progress of their children. Not only the school is to blame for this, the parents are also equally to blame. The mental pressure given by the ‘alliance’ system of schools and parents has led to the development of insensitivity in child psychology across the country, which may cause irreparable damage in the future.

Let's think about it! From 6 am to 8 pm, the same environment, the same place, the same classroom, only a few characters change in turn. Teachers of subjects that are considered more difficult come repeatedly. In such a situation, how much trouble do the students in the classroom get? How bored? How angry do they get? But, children are forced to endure all that . Because this 'excess' has been done with the consent of the school and the parents . There is no way out of this . 

And we ourselves say, 'The child comes home and only looks at his mobile phone, does not read or study . ...He does not care about the guests who come to the house, does not talk, does not like to go to friends, he has become antisocial .' But, in the current '14-hour' learning system, there is no opportunity for that closeness . He has not been taught social behavior, he does not have any free time . 

From dawn to dusk, children are forced to be constantly involved in the same environment, they have to work only on the orders of others, they do not have the opportunity to enjoy nature in an open environment, they are given heavier homework than regular school days for long holidays, they are forced to write a diary even during festive holidays, they are given a pen and paper and asked to ‘take notes of what you see’ during educational trips, and even sports time in school is monitored! Now tell me – how much free time will that child get? The pressure to constantly focus only on the subject gradually weakens his creativity. And, it develops human emotions like anger, fighting, jealousy in him. Such activities have a long-term negative impact on child psychology, which we have done without even realizing it.

Improving the quality of education is not only about making it possible to get a GPA of 4 in the final exam. When children get a GPA of 4, do they understand the content they wrote practically or just memorize it? It is important to identify that. Political pressure and policy-focused - how to increase the passing percentage in the exam results? The method of measuring practical knowledge is very weak. One method of measuring practical knowledge should be a practical exam, but it is limited to formality. Currently, the marks given in the practical exam are the marks given in the 'grant'. That mark is a way to increase the student's overall grade.

Educationists emphasize that the curriculum should be improved, but they do not even discuss that the existing curriculum is weak and impractical. We have a big problem in the learning process. In book-writing, it is asked to present the topics seen and known at home, school and society as examples, which is relevant. However, the problem is that students do not have time to see, understand and think about the environment around them. Time is being spent on writing and memorizing answers to the questions asked in the same old exams. The topics written in the books have not been practically implemented in teaching. Reforming the curriculum in line with the times is essential. However, the current challenge is to convert the knowledge and skills mentioned in the curriculum into practice and increase the creativity of the students.

Students should be freed from the over-professionalism of the school and the over-ambition of the parents. In no other country are children kept under administrative control for 13-14 hours a day, nor are they allowed to be kept under it. Our education regulatory body should pay immediate attention and give instructions for the necessary improvements. It is human nature to not want to be controlled by others, so children want to be free from excessive control. When there is excessive control from educational institutions and parents, students leave their homes and plan trips abroad. Therefore, they should have a comfortable and happy environment to study at school and stay at home. Only then do they develop a sense of belonging to their family and society. It is natural for parents to expect their children to do well in their exams. However, the above method of achieving good exam results is wrong. In our society, the main criterion for measuring teaching and learning is the grade obtained by the student in the final exam of the class. In addition to the curriculum, the questions asked in the exams should also be improved, where the student understands and experiences the subject studied. And, they should be able to express their own originality, and not answer based on old questions. For that, improvement should start from the small class. There is no need for formal exams in the small class. Let's not give the marks of the experimental exam as 'grant'. Only give excellent marks to students who attend the laboratory regularly and use it well. Let them believe - if they do well, they will get good grades. Let's grade students who know and those who don't, let's not legitimize wrongdoing by pretending to be internal examiners and external examiners.

Our teaching method needs to be shifted from teacher-centered to student-centered. Students need to be made to be able to reason. Our current method is directive. It needs to be improved. When we get them used to group discussions and presenting their opinions from the younger grades, they get used to that environment and the results are good. We can't suddenly try to use it in the upper grades. The current 45-minute class time is a very old design. Activities within that time should be organized. Studies have shown that the time that children can focus on a single subject is shorter than that of previous children. They can only focus on an object for 10-15 minutes continuously, after which their attention becomes distracted. This is a problem caused by time and technology, and the solution should also be technical. The entire class time of 45 minutes can be divided into various stages. For example, group discussions, immediate class work, information on the development and use of AI, discussions on events that have occurred in the country and abroad, information on computers and computer languages, the Internet and how to use the Internet properly, climate change, biographies of writers, social workers, and scientists, songs, music, interesting cultural events, folklore, sports, etc. However, this is definitely not an easy task. For this, teachers need to be provided with effective skill development training related to teaching and learning.

Recently, there are many parents who boast that 'my child doesn't even know how to make tea'. This is our misconception. Children can be made to do small household chores, give them the responsibility of buying necessary items from the nearby vegetable shop, milk shop and grocery store, and sometimes make them cook tea and food during holidays.

Such excessive burdens imposed on children without practical knowledge are actually counterproductive for their future. The argument may be that ‘if they don’t do this much, they won’t pass, they won’t even want to study’. But, in reality, they have tried to escape because they were trying to burden them beyond their capacity. At the university level, the ability to carry any burden can be developed, which we have also seen in the education systems of other countries. In some ways, our parents’ generation was more intelligent than our parent generation, who were obsessed with the feeling of having to get good grades, even though they had less education.

Our parents’ generation, who gave us education along with household chores. The school administration is also aware that the ‘14-hour’ activities have caused mental torture to the students. However, the professional work has overshadowed all other situations.

Educational institutions are not only professional, but also service-oriented institutions. The existence of the future leaders of the country is also linked to them. However, due to the lack of a child-friendly environment, human sensitivity in children has become extremely weak in recent times.

Therefore, it is necessary for the administrators of educational institutions to adopt alternative measures including child psychology to free young children from this terrible and frightening burden. Let us also consider before enrolling our children – we should not only look at which schools are child-friendly and which schools pass the most students. Let us evaluate this issue – why are our children becoming reclusive today? The main factors for this are the state regulatory bodies, educational institutions and parents, not the children. The environment has made children like that. Such minor mistakes made by us can become problems that cannot be corrected in the future. Therefore, I request all school administrators, teachers, parents and stakeholders – not only teach students, but also let them read.