A Question Every Parent Has Asked
Walk into any Indian home, and you’ll hear the same worry repeated in different words: “My child is not studying.” Parents see falling interest, rising anxiety, and declining confidence — and assume the child is lazy or distracted. But what if the problem doesn’t lie with the child at all? What if the system itself is designed to crush natural curiosity?
Here’s a rare conversation where a school principal decides to tell the truth.
The Principal’s Confession: The System Is Not Built for Learning
Parent: “Sir, my son used to enjoy learning. Now he fears books and avoids homework. What’s happening?”
Principal: “The problem isn’t your child. The problem is the environment we’re forcing him into.”
Schooling in India is built around uniformity and speed. Children who can keep up are labelled “bright”. Those who cannot are quietly pushed aside. The system rewards memorisers and punishes explorers.
Marks: The Most Misleading Metric of All
Parent: “But marks help us judge ability, right?”
Principal: “Marks judge circumstances, not ability.”
A child’s marks reflect:
- how educated their parents are
- whether English is spoken at home
- if they get support after school
- whether they have a laptop
- if the home environment is peaceful
- how much external coaching they can afford
Marks measure privilege, not intelligence. But schools rarely admit this because the system depends on ranking children.
Why Coaching Centres Quietly Run Education in India
Parent: “My son goes to school AND coaching. Still, he is stressed.”
Principal: “Because coaching is not learning — it’s survival training.”
Coaching has replaced schooling because:
- schools rush through the syllabus
- teachers cannot personalise learning
- large classrooms ignore individual needs
Students attend school for attendance and coaching for comprehension. Childhood is stolen by timetables, mock tests, and exam hacks.
Failure is Not a Sign of Weakness — It’s a Sign of Abandonment
Parent: “My son cries before exams. He thinks he’s ‘not good enough’.”
Principal: “Because our system punishes mistakes instead of teaching from them.”
When children struggle:
- teaching doesn’t slow down
- methods don’t change
- emotional support is missing
The child is blamed for the system’s shortcomings. Eventually, confidence collapses.
Language: The Silent Barrier That No One Discusses
Parent: “Teachers say his English is weak.”
Principal: “Weak English is not weak intelligence.”
Children who speak Tamil, Marathi, Hindi, Malayalam, or Gujarati at home are judged unfairly. English fluency becomes a badge of “smartness”, creating silent discrimination in classrooms.
Parents Must Become Co-Educators, Not Outsourced Supervisors
The principal sighs and tells the parent what every school knows but won’t admit:
“You cannot rely on the system to unlock your child’s potential.”
Real learning happens:
- at the child’s pace
- through curiosity
- through exploration
- when mistakes are encouraged
- when confidence is nurtured
This is why alternative models like TeachToEarn matter — they break the rigid, outdated mould of schooling and replace it with personalised, flexible, joyful learning.
Conclusion: Your Child Deserves Better Than Marks and Fear
If your child fears studies, don’t scold. Understand the pressure cooker they live inside. Schools are bound by rules. Coaching centres are driven by business. Only parents can truly protect a child’s curiosity.
If you’re ready to give your child an environment where learning feels exciting again, start here:
👉 https://www.teachtoearn.in/apna-pc/