CHENNAI: There is no
secret recipe for success, but if your child was born in September, he
or she is likely to get 10% more marks in the board exam than classmates
born in other months. This has nothing to do with a child's star sign,
but is associated with the phenomenon of 'relative age'.
A government analysis of the board exam results of 20 lakh Class XII students in Tamil Nadu over the last three years showed that the month in which a student is born can lead to a difference of up to 120 of the total of 1,200 marks.
This is because the virtual cut-off for a child to join school is the end of August. A child born in September will have to wait for the next admission year, making him or her one of the oldest students in a class, handing him a distinct academic advantage over his younger and hence less mature classmates.
According to the study, students born in June scored the lowest marks in the Class 12 board exams — securing an average of 720 of 1,200 marks. The scores of students born in July are higher, and those of August-born students are higher still. But students born in September score the highest marks — an average of 840 of 1,200. From there on it is downhill.
Tamil Nadu school education department secretary D Sabitha said Report Bee, a company incubated by IIT-Madras, carried out the study to "come out with ways to help rural children perform well in academics".
The study draws parallels from Canadian psychologist Roger Brantley's phenomenon of 'relative age'. In his book 'Outliers', Malcom Gladwell said the idea hit Barnsley when he was watching a hockey game in Canada. Barnsley wondered "why a hugely disproportionate number of professional hockey and soccer players were born in January, February and March". The book explains: "In Canada, the eligibility cutoff for age-class hockey is January 1. A boy who turns 10 on January 2, then, could be playing alongside someone who doesn't turn 10 until the end of the year — and at that age, in preadolescence, a 12-month gap in age represents an enormous difference in physical maturity."
"Perhaps this initial advantage that the older children have over their classmates continues through the years. Whatever the reason, it's clear that if your child is born in September he or she already has a 100-mark advantage," the Chennai study concluded.
Tamil Nadu school education department secretary D Sabitha said Report Bee, a company incubated by IIT-Madras, carried out the study to "come out with ways to help rural children perform well in academics".
Michael, a child in Chennai who turned two in January 2008, is a case in point. His mother, Annie Prince, knew that she wanted to put him in a leading CBSE school near their home. There was only one problem: Michael did not meet the age criterion.
They told her he was younger by a month, and that he would have to seek admission in LKG only the next year, Annie said. "I thought it was unreasonable that the school should make such a fuss over 30 days, and I decided to put him in another school where I knew the principal. She agreed to take him in," Annie added.
Little did Annie know that she would have given Michael a distinct edge over his classmates if she had taken the principal's advice. The study by Report Bee says being an older child in class is an advantage as a "positive mindset at a young age will be beneficial throughout the child's life".
School heads said many parents like Annie insist that they admit their child in school even if they don't meet the age requirement. "We have noticed that the parents are either overambitious or face peer pressure from their social circle," said P Vishnucharan, correspondent of Shree Niketan Group of Schools.
The study shows that the state insists that parents put children in Class 1 only once they are five years old, but parents push institutions to take in children born in June, who barely make the deadline. This makes these children the youngest in class. July and August-born children are usually admitted the next year, but many private matriculation schools are lenient with the rules and parents often manage to enroll their child the same year. Parents of children born in September are forced to admit their wards only during the next admission cycle.
The study concludes that this pattern has reflected in the marks, with the oldest children in class (usually born in September) scoring the highest grades. The study also shows that the second oldest — born in October — score slightly less and so on.
Parents argue that the difference may be noticeable initially, but younger children may rise to the challenge. However, as Gladwell says, studies have shown that, "The small initial advantage that the child born in the early part of the year has over the child born at the end of the year persists. It locks children into patterns of achievement and underachievement, encouragement and discouragement, that stretch on and on for years."
There are practical reasons too. In the event of a tie between students with the same marks, preference is always given to the older candidate. "School principals have been saying this for several years now. Now we have evidence to prove it," Vishnucharan said. With the admission season upon the city, here's a tip for parents: don't try to enroll your child in school early.
-TOI
A government analysis of the board exam results of 20 lakh Class XII students in Tamil Nadu over the last three years showed that the month in which a student is born can lead to a difference of up to 120 of the total of 1,200 marks.
This is because the virtual cut-off for a child to join school is the end of August. A child born in September will have to wait for the next admission year, making him or her one of the oldest students in a class, handing him a distinct academic advantage over his younger and hence less mature classmates.
According to the study, students born in June scored the lowest marks in the Class 12 board exams — securing an average of 720 of 1,200 marks. The scores of students born in July are higher, and those of August-born students are higher still. But students born in September score the highest marks — an average of 840 of 1,200. From there on it is downhill.
Tamil Nadu school education department secretary D Sabitha said Report Bee, a company incubated by IIT-Madras, carried out the study to "come out with ways to help rural children perform well in academics".
The study draws parallels from Canadian psychologist Roger Brantley's phenomenon of 'relative age'. In his book 'Outliers', Malcom Gladwell said the idea hit Barnsley when he was watching a hockey game in Canada. Barnsley wondered "why a hugely disproportionate number of professional hockey and soccer players were born in January, February and March". The book explains: "In Canada, the eligibility cutoff for age-class hockey is January 1. A boy who turns 10 on January 2, then, could be playing alongside someone who doesn't turn 10 until the end of the year — and at that age, in preadolescence, a 12-month gap in age represents an enormous difference in physical maturity."
"Perhaps this initial advantage that the older children have over their classmates continues through the years. Whatever the reason, it's clear that if your child is born in September he or she already has a 100-mark advantage," the Chennai study concluded.
Tamil Nadu school education department secretary D Sabitha said Report Bee, a company incubated by IIT-Madras, carried out the study to "come out with ways to help rural children perform well in academics".
Michael, a child in Chennai who turned two in January 2008, is a case in point. His mother, Annie Prince, knew that she wanted to put him in a leading CBSE school near their home. There was only one problem: Michael did not meet the age criterion.
They told her he was younger by a month, and that he would have to seek admission in LKG only the next year, Annie said. "I thought it was unreasonable that the school should make such a fuss over 30 days, and I decided to put him in another school where I knew the principal. She agreed to take him in," Annie added.
Little did Annie know that she would have given Michael a distinct edge over his classmates if she had taken the principal's advice. The study by Report Bee says being an older child in class is an advantage as a "positive mindset at a young age will be beneficial throughout the child's life".
School heads said many parents like Annie insist that they admit their child in school even if they don't meet the age requirement. "We have noticed that the parents are either overambitious or face peer pressure from their social circle," said P Vishnucharan, correspondent of Shree Niketan Group of Schools.
The study shows that the state insists that parents put children in Class 1 only once they are five years old, but parents push institutions to take in children born in June, who barely make the deadline. This makes these children the youngest in class. July and August-born children are usually admitted the next year, but many private matriculation schools are lenient with the rules and parents often manage to enroll their child the same year. Parents of children born in September are forced to admit their wards only during the next admission cycle.
The study concludes that this pattern has reflected in the marks, with the oldest children in class (usually born in September) scoring the highest grades. The study also shows that the second oldest — born in October — score slightly less and so on.
Parents argue that the difference may be noticeable initially, but younger children may rise to the challenge. However, as Gladwell says, studies have shown that, "The small initial advantage that the child born in the early part of the year has over the child born at the end of the year persists. It locks children into patterns of achievement and underachievement, encouragement and discouragement, that stretch on and on for years."
There are practical reasons too. In the event of a tie between students with the same marks, preference is always given to the older candidate. "School principals have been saying this for several years now. Now we have evidence to prove it," Vishnucharan said. With the admission season upon the city, here's a tip for parents: don't try to enroll your child in school early.
-TOI
Your analysis is contradicting your own data. As per your data the youngest ones are those born in August and the oldest ones born in September, when the admission closes in August end. But the scores are gradually increasing from June July August and peaking in September. If the explanation is age for the difference in score-it does not hold. As the the youngest and the oldest and almost near. This study is never equivalent to Canadian psychologist Roger Brantley.
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