'Toppers don’t always top life’: HCL's former CEO Vineet Nayar says board exams aren’t Oscars

In the run-up to the board exams for Classes 10 and 12, Vineet Nayar, former CEO of Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL), recently criticized the hype created by parents about good board exam scores.

In a post on LinkedIn, Nayar called out parents who consider ‘exams like the Oscars’ and ‘define their wards with scores in board exams’.

Nayar who is now the founder of Sampark Foundation said, “No one cares about your marks. Not once has anyone stopped me to ask, “Vineet, how much did you score in Class 12?” If they did, I’d probably say, “Enough to traumatize my parents but not enough to impress my teachers.” Your marks are like Bollywood item songs — they seem super important at the time but are completely irrelevant to the actual plot later,”.

Sampark Foundation is a leading education NGO in India, which empowers millions of children with quality education.

Nayar said that marks are like a supporting actor who is helpful, but the spotlight belongs to the students. “If you can walk into a room and convince people you’re a superstar, you’ll go further than any percentage can take you,” he added in his post.

He argued that toppers peak early and because of that they burn out early. He said that board exam marks are completely irrelevant to the actual plot later. He refers to the plot as life.

Concluding Nayar said that board exams don’t test the intelligence of the student. “Toppers don’t always top life. Most of the toppers in my batch sprinted hard, peaked early, and burned out. Life isn’t a 3-hour Bollywood blockbuster; it’s a Netflix series. The backbenchers who took their time?,” he added.