Towards a Stress Free Education: International Perspective

Stress is simply the body's response to changes that create taxing demands. When one cannot cope with it, these cause distresses. Stress is not always bad. The manageable stress motivates individuals to achieve what he/she wishes to achieve. When one can cope with stress it is called "eustress" which is good. Education in many countries cause distress in children and there are many factors such as too much demands place on the child by parents and school system; severe competition and fear of failure, Child's inability to cope with pressure, ones fitness, socio-economic and family backgrounds, cost of learning and more over the system of education that places too many bureaucratic and systemic controls such as examinations which are not learner friendly. The paper examines the international perspectives around some of these issues. (Contains 6 footnotes.)