Exam bloopers

This is regarding the cover story “Exam bloopers” by Kashif Hafeez (YW, April 30). The article was the need of the time as we have exams just ahead and need to be reminded about the basic things which are usually forgotten in the stress of preparation.

All the tips in the article were important and sure to help students prepare better for the exam but I think the most important of them all was lack of planning; if we don’t know how to plan studies for exams, everything goes wasted and we end up getting low marks. So it is better to always plan a month before the date of the exams arrive. I thank the writer and the YW team for providing us with a very informative article.

Rayyan Basit,

Karachi

Proper counselling

Why don’t children get proper counselling in schools? Why are they always crammed with assignments, tests and homework? While their parents are always questioning about their academic growth … sadly this is the way everyone has grown. No sessions for proper counselling, no guidance and nothing to brighten children’s perspective about various fields!

Parents urge their children to become a doctor, engineer, lawyer, etc., because it was ‘their’ dream to see their kid in that ‘field’, and the poor children unfamiliar with the occupations agree. What about their skills, their abilities, their thinking?

Counsellors should be provided to students to make them understand who actually is a doctor, an engineer or a chemist, etc; and no one should force them to take a profession they are not sure of. Children should know about the hundreds of occupations/ fields out there and therefore, schools should provide them proper counselling as every student has the right to know.

Tahreem Masood Jatoi,

Hyderabad 

Teenage rocks!

This is regarding the story “Teenage rocks!” by Sara Pirzada (YW, April 30). The story truly depicted what I used to think sometime back about my parents. I was always cursing my life for being loaded with work and thought my mum had a carefree life, as she just had to cook and nothing more … but when one day, my mum got sick and as the elder sibling my dad asked me to help him in performing regular chores and also to look after the younger siblings.

I remember that one week as the most terrible days of my life. When mum got well, I rejoiced for she was healthy again but also for the fact that I was a carefree soul again and never hated my life again. My mum fulfils all the responsibilities and my dad is always engrossed in the official matters, while I just have studies and friends — this is a beautiful age.

Tania Farooque,

Karachi

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 21st, 2016