Grade Five scholarship exam places tremendous pressure on young developing minds : Study

Children face tremendous pressure to do well in studies at a very young age, leaving them to abandon playtime owing to the highly-competitive Grade Five scholarship examinations, a recent study revealed.

The study  carried out by Dr. P.M. Jayawardena, a paediatrician by profession, has revealed that high mental stress and lack of intelligency growth are some of the ill-effects caused owing to exam pressure.

Dr. Jayawardena, in the report claims that children are forced to undergo a huge amount of pressure due to the enforcement of academic activities on children which is not on par with their age. Leading to adverse effects on the development of certain  systems in a child's body.

The intense pressure results in affecting the hippocampus in the brain - which relates to memory and education, and thereby affects the future academic activities of the children, the study has revealed.

The report goes on to add that children are deprived of an opportunity to play and engage in recreation due to the scholarship examination. 

Out of an approximate 360,000 students who sit for the examination, only around 15,000 achieve the cut-off mark, the report revealed.

According to the report, the disadvantages of the exam has outweighed the advantages by eight to two.

The opportunity to choose a prominent school and the scholarships to study in those schools are the only advantages of the exam, Dr. Jayawardena says in the report.

High amounts of mental stress, lack of intelligency development, physical ailments, social problems, economic problems, personality disorders, diminution in values and the deprivation of childhood were found to be some of the downsides of sitting for the competitive Grade Five scholarship exam.