Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Friday questioned about his own preparations for his "examination" in 2019, when the lok Sabha elections will be held. While the PM told the student that he should be a journalist for asking such questions, he also maintained, "Results and marks are by-products of exams, one must concentrate on giving one’s best. I follow a similar approach in politics." The PM was answering a query by a student at the 'Pareeksha Pe Charcha' event organised by the HRD Ministry.
Modi told students across the country to stress on the importance of confidence and concentration in dealing with exam stress. The charcha, ahead of the Class 10 and 12 board examinations, was held at the Talkatora Stadium in the national Capital.
Around 2300 school and college students including teachers and principals participated in the programme which also saw the presence of HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and his cabinet colleagues Ravi Shankar Prasad, J P Nadda, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Dr Jitendra Singh,
The PMO had received thousands of questions from students across the country, ranging from stress and parental pressure to yoga and how to deal with the competition.
"Today, I am a student and you are my examiner. You can give me marks out of 10 later. Don't think of me as the prime minister but as a friend," Modi said, responding to questions from the students gathered at the stadium as well as those who wrote in their queries and doubts.
Answering a question on how to handle the stress some students undergo even after preparation, Modi said, we all prepare honestly but if we don't have confidence, we tend to forget things at the last minute. "Self confidence comes by challenging ourselves and working hard. We should always think of bettering ourselves."
Students also asked the PM questions through various television news channels, the Narendra Modi Mobile App, and the MyGov platform.
Beginning the conversation, the Prime Minister said that he had come to the Town Hall session as a friend of the students, and their parents and family. He said that he was speaking to as many as 10 crore people across the country, through various platforms. He acknowledged his own teachers, who had instilled in him the values that enable him to keep the student in him alive till today.
Modi also quoted Swami Vivekananda to invoke the importance of self-confidence, to deal with examination stress and anxiety. He gave the example of the Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris, who won a bronze medal in the ongoing Winter Olympic Games, just eleven months after suffering a life threatening injury.
On the subject of concentration, the Prime Minister recalled the great cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's advice on the radio programme Mann Ki Baat. Tendulkar had said that he only focuses on the ball that he is playing at present, and does not worry about the past or future.
Noting that every parent sacrifices for his or her child, the Prime Minister urged parents not to make the achievements of their child a matter of social prestige. He said every child is blessed with unique talents.