DUBAI // Time management, preparation and not being afraid to ask for assistance can help to ease exam-related stress, a school expert has advised.
As head of learning support at the British curriculum Repton School, the first boarding school in the Middle East, Sarah Dayal knows how stressed pupils can become before exams.
“Stress is a reaction to a perception of threat and exams can be something threatening to a child,” said the Indian expatriate. “Children are in some way judged by the marks at exam time.
“The threat can make the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome come into play.”
Teachers and support staff at Repton School in Dubai try to ease the risk of stress by putting year-round measures in place, such as after-school tuition and study clubs.
Teachers, house masters and department heads also look for pupils at risk of academic pressure.
Learning support staff work with those that raise a red flag to determine what future support they need.
Ms Dayal, who also acts as a guidance counsellor, said schools should work closely with parents and pupils to reduce the threat of stress at exam time.
“At the end of the day we are, as providers of education, providing a service to the community and we are responsible for the emotional, academic and social wellbeing of the children,” she said.
Pupils should manage their time to be prepared for exams.
“The first thing for students is anticipation. Anticipate and understand what this friendly giant is all about,” Ms Dayal said.
“Yes it is huge, yes it is demanding. But it is not something that comes out of the blue.”
Pupils should make a revision strategy, set weekly, monthly and end-of-term targets, and not forget to reward themselves.
Looking after their health, getting plenty of sleep and avoiding the urge to cram on the last day before exams is also vital.
Parents also need to play their part, Ms Dayal said.
“As parents, one of the ways of reducing exam stress is to empower them with the belief that, ‘my mum and dad have full faith in me and they know that I am doing my best’,” she said.
“This automatically reduces the anxiety and fear of failure, which increases their confidence helps them to function at their optimum best.”
Nav Rai, business development officer at Repton, said when important exams were looming, some pupils boarded on an occasional basis.
“The reasons for this are they are based in a structured environment with a routine, which means that they can concentrate fully on their exam preparation,” Mr Rai said.
“They have access to tutors after school hours, which they wouldn’t do at home, and their parents do not have to worry about whether they are doing enough preparation for their exams.”
jbell@thenational.ae
How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia
Three Penalties
v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)
v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)
v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)
Four Corners
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)
v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)
One Free-Kick
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Calls
Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillian, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
