Pariksha Pe Charcha: Student from Gujarat seeks PM Modi's advice on competition among friends

NEW DELHI: A Class 6 student from a school in Gujarat joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's annual Pariksha Pe Charcha programme on Monday virtually and sought his advice about competition among friends and ways to cope with the stress that arises due to it. The prime minister said though competition is necessary in life, it should be a "healthy competition". Drashti Chauhan, the Class 6 student from the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Panchmahal district, sought the PM's advice on competition among friends.

"If your friend is appearing for a paper of 100 marks, you are also giving the same paper. Where is the question of competition with your friend here? You need to compete with yourself, not with your friend. There is no need to hold a grudge against your friend because he can also become a source of inspiration for you," Modi said. The prime minister also suggested that students make friends who are more talented than them, not those who are weaker in studies, as talented persons "lift the spirit" of others around them.

"Find a friend who is brighter than you and try to learn from him. We must not envy our friend's success. Instead, find their strengths and seek their help to learn a subject which you find difficult. Similarly, you can teach him a subject in which you are good. You both can help each other instead of entering into a competition," he said.

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Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel watched the telecast of the programme with students at the Nutan Vidya Vihar Higher Secondary School, a private institution in Ghatlodia area, where he also interacted with students and wished them luck for the upcoming exams, as per an official release. Majority of schools in the state, both private or government-run, made arrangements to show their students the live telecast of the programme on their premises, an official said.

During the programme, PM Modi said it is crucial to instil resilience in children to help them cope with pressures and asserted that parents and teachers should collectively address challenges faced by students. Interacting with students, parents and teachers during the programme, the prime minister advised parents against treating their child's report card as their own visiting card and suggested that students should compete with themselves and not others. Organised by the Ministry of Education, Pariksha Pe Charcha has been engaging students, parents and teachers for the past six years.