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Bhutan ( Bhota- Anta in Sanskrit)  nestled in the peaks of the  Himalayas  is known  for’ no smoking ‘,  Gross National Happiness in place of  Gross Domestic Product.

Students of economics now currently preparing for board examinations may well wonder as to why they learnt the formulae for   GDP if happiness is the index of growth of the country. GDP= Consumption +Government Expenditure +Investment – Imports.

Lord Macaulay   imparted us the 3Rs and our education system is management of intelligence quotient and not the emotional quotient of students.

However as an advice to parents, schools unequivocally mention that a child’s performance is judged by both curricular and co-curricular activities.  My friend and I were exempted from appearing the class 11 final examination as we were performing in an estimable musical directed by noted theatre personality Barry John. The Principal was later to chair the CBSE.

A student performed reasonably well in class 11 , but the performance plummeted in class 12! The teachers and parents could not comprehend why. The pedagogy was not altered, teachers were of high calibre and the student was obedient, diligent and attentive in the classroom, yet had gone adrift.

The evaluation of a student under the prevailing system is purely based on scholastic performance, on the results of the examinations and various project reports submitted.

Was the child suffering physically, mentally or the environment of the household too demanding that it impaired the performance of the student?

Marks secured are the cynosure of the stakeholders (students, teachers and parents) on receipt of the report card.  Numerically and mathematically it   indicates the progress or waning of the performance   of the student. This is the intelligence quotient.

Seldom do stakeholders pay attention to a page in the report card called the students profile. This lucidly captures   the psychology and personality traits of the student which in a subtle manner amplifies the performance of the child.

Some of the parameters which shape  the personality of the student  include academic  motivation, self – discipline , leadership qualities  exhibited, integrity , habits , concern for others , ability to accept criticism , respect gained  from peers , academic creativity , emotional maturity , originality in thought process, ability to take up responsibility, tolerance and frustration levels and respect gained from the faculty.

These are important psychological parameters and personality traits of any student.  These get transformed   into their superiority in studies and success in studies, development of leadership qualities and accomplishment in activities, interaction with peers and overall personality growth   of the student. To my mind this reflects theemotional quotient   of the child reflecting confidence and happiness levels.

The stakeholders need to nurture the characteristics of emotional quotient as it has a direct bearing on the performance of the student.

Students are marked good or average in the boxes of personality traits as mentioned based on the assessment of the teacher. This is Lord Macaulay’s iteration adopted as perhaps this   is the only framework or skeleton we have developed to evaluate the child. The mentee is categorised willy   nilly based on the academic performance without factoring in development / decline in the personality traits. Interestingly these traits are shockingly for normally the current academic term or year without juxtaposing it with the previous year’s one.

Martin Luther King Jr wrote,” The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character -that is the goal of education.”

A holistic assessment of a student should   aim to evaluate the sum of both emotional and intelligence quotient.