The Question Every Admission Season

Every admission season, parents ask me the same question:

“Sir, do your students score 95%+? I haven’t seen any topper banners from your academy.”

Some even ask: “My child scored well. Will you put their photo in your advertisements?”

This year, after the CBSE, State Board, and ICSE results, I received the same advice from people around me:

“Put up banners. Display the marks. You’ll get more admissions.”

Then, in the middle of all that noise, I received a message from a heartbroken parent whose daughter had not performed well in her ICSE Class 10 examinations.

Her pain wasn’t just about the marks. It was about the pressure. The shame. The silence of not making it to a banner.

And that made me think.

What I See in 100+ Schools Every Year

I visit 100+ schools and colleges every year. Almost everywhere, I see the same thing — topper photographs, marksheets displayed on walls, and institutions competing to claim credit for students’ achievements.

Some institutions even go to the extent of paying students or parents to associate a particular achievement with their brand.

But let me ask you something.

When you invite a scientist, a business leader, a singer, an actor, or an entrepreneur to your institution, do you first check their Class 10 marks?

No. You look at what they built. What they achieved. What they contributed. Their journey. Their story. What they eventually became.

So why do we treat the result of a 16- or 18-year-old as the final verdict on who they are?

And here is the harder question: When are we going to call the parents of the child who scored less? When are we going to ask: “What could we have done differently?”

That question is uncomfortable. But perhaps it is the question we need to ask more often.

This Is Why I Made a Difficult Decision

Years ago, I made a conscious decision: To celebrate learning — not just marks.

My position is simple.

“If I am not willing to take 100% responsibility when a student scores less, I have no right to claim 100% credit when a student scores high.”

— Vedansh Naveen

That 90%+ result is not mine. It belongs to the student who stayed disciplined for two years. It belongs to the student who skipped outings, celebrations, and countless moments with friends. It belongs to the parents who sacrificed vacations, functions, time, and significant amounts of money — first on school fees and books, and then on coaching and other educational support.

It belongs to years of discipline, focus, hard work, and quiet sacrifice.

That achievement belongs to the student and their family. It does not belong on an organisation’s wall simply as an advertisement.

Every Student Deserves to Feel Equal

All students are equal. All of them are children. And every one of them is remarkable in ways that no marksheet can completely measure.

  • One student may excel academically.
  • Another may be exceptional at sports.
  • Someone else may be creative, curious, empathetic, entrepreneurial, artistic, technically gifted, or simply incredibly resilient.

A marksheet can measure performance in an examination. It cannot measure a child’s potential.

And most importantly, their story is only beginning. A board examination is not the end. It is barely the first chapter.

What Does a Banner Really Tell a Child?

When we put one child’s photograph on a banner and leave another child out, we may think we are simply celebrating achievement. But the children watching those banners may receive a very different message:

“You matter more if you score more.”

And that is a message I do not want any child to carry.

Success deserves appreciation. Hard work deserves recognition. Toppers absolutely deserve to be celebrated for their effort and achievement. But perhaps we can celebrate them in a more constructive, respectful, and sensible manner — without making another child feel that their achievement, effort, or worth is somehow less important.

Because education should not create a hierarchy of children. It should create opportunities for children to discover who they can become.

Let’s Change the Culture

Maybe it is time to move beyond the culture of “How many toppers do you have?” and start asking:

“How many students did you help grow?”

  • How many students became more confident?
  • How many discovered something they were good at?
  • How many learned to overcome failure?
  • How many developed discipline?
  • How many started believing in themselves?
  • How many children left your institution knowing that their future is bigger than a number on a marksheet?

Those achievements may never fit on a banner. But they may matter far more.

I hope this culture changes. And I believe it must.

Let us appreciate toppers for their hard work and marks. But let us also make sure that every child understands one simple truth:

Your marks are a part of your story — they are not the definition of your story. Your journey has only just begun.

— Vedansh Naveen