SCHOOL MARATHON

September arrives with the familiar hustle and bustle: lessons, school bells, and buying school uniforms. Yet, behind this seemingly orderly picture lies a deep anxiety shared by many families. In the current 2026/2027 academic year, the threshold of schools in Azerbaijan was crossed by about 2.2 million pupils, of whom over 124,000 children sat at their desks for the very first time. Statistics record a steady decline in the number of first-graders and a general trend towards falling birth rates, which experts and researchers of social processes openly discuss. This is linked to a whole complex of reasons: the changing lifestyle of modern people, urbanisation, growing demands on the standard of living, economic shifts, and the colossal psychological burden on young families who face difficulties in securing a decent future for their children.

Financial rollercoaster

One of the most painful aspects of this reality is the financial and organisational strain of providing quality development for children. Today, raising a child properly requires massive investment, as the extracurricular education market is almost entirely commercialised. Truly accessible state-funded and municipal clubs are catastrophically scarce, and the few sections still operating at creative centres or schools are chronically overcrowded. Securing a place amidst colossal waiting lists feels like sheer luck, leaving most parents with only one option: turning to expensive private studios. Consequently, caring for a child's harmonious development becomes an unbearable burden on the family budget, prompting many to consciously delay having a second or third child for fear of being unable to cope with the expenses.

In parallel, these difficulties extend to the general education system itself, which, due to overly complex curricula and inflated expectations, generates a colossal demand for private tutoring. In many cases, the school syllabus fails to keep pace with the actual requirements of examinations, turning children and parents into hostages of the extracurricular system. Hiring tutors becomes necessary almost from the primary years; otherwise, a child simply cannot keep up with the curriculum. As a result, a schoolchild's weekdays transform into an exhausting marathon: school in the morning, private tutors after lunch, and foreign language or exam preparation courses in the evening. The child rushes from one teacher to another, deprived not only of sports and free time, but also of the very right to a childhood, rest, and psychological respite.

The science behind burnout

Large-scale studies in developmental psychology and neurobiology confirm that chronic academic burnout in children is not merely temporary fatigue, but a dangerous condition that destroys the cognitive and emotional structures of the developing brain. Scientific research proves that excessive academic pressure during adolescence is directly linked to a sharp rise in depressive disorders, a decline in emotional regulation, and a multiplied risk of self-harming behaviour, the consequences of which can be traced well into early adulthood. Constantly elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol block the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory and the assimilation of new information, paradoxically causing the very academic performance for which the child was deprived of rest to drop. The problem of the educational rat race is global, but approaches to solving it vary radically across different countries. In South Korea, the cult of intensive private cram schools led to colossal levels of adolescent depression; in response, the government has legislatively restricted the operating hours of educational institutions and introduced semesters dedicated to free creative pursuits. In Finland, the education system is built on a minimal homework load, an absence of private tutoring, and an absolute priority for psychological well-being, with the state fully funding extracurricular clubs and sports. In France and Germany, initiatives are being actively implemented to reduce school workloads, protect children's personal time, and develop free municipal support for gifted students.

Quiet happiness

Overcoming the exhausting educational rat race and restoring a child's joy of life is only possible through parents' conscious rejection of the cult of grades in favour of psychological well-being. A schoolchild's happiness lies in simple things: the opportunity to get enough sleep, to stroll without a rigid schedule, and to engage in favourite creative pursuits or sports purely for pleasure, rather than for a tick on a CV. It is crucial to cultivate an atmosphere of unconditional acceptance at home, where a child's personality is valued regardless of their academic performance. When adults stop projecting their anxiety and lift the unbearable burden of perfectionism from their children's shoulders, schoolchildren gain what matters most—inner resilience, self-confidence, and that genuine childhood serenity which makes them truly happy. Moreover, it is this inner freedom and harmony that lay the foundation for future success. In a world where artificial intelligence can solve standard tests in seconds, write code, and perform routine analytical tasks, the traditional strategy of rote learning and the endless accumulation of academic facts loses all meaning. A child trapped in the vice of cramming and extracurricular activities risks growing up to be an obedient, living computer—the very type of worker that artificial intelligence will replace first. To confidently earn a living and remain in demand in the future, the focus of development must shift from the volume of memorised information to unique human competencies. It is essential to cultivate meta-skills—universal "skills above skills" that dictate how a person thinks, adapts, and interacts with the world, regardless of their profession. Creativity is equally vital, as artificial intelligence processes data but lacks empathy, artistic taste, the ability to grasp context, and the capacity for unconventional thought. The arts, music, drawing, and theatre serve as the best training for flexible thinking. Crucial roles are also played by fostering critical thinking, the ability to analyse information flows, the capacity to prompt artificial intelligence effectively, and the development of emotional intelligence and teamwork skills. The victor in this new technological reality will not be the child who was worn down by endless lessons and robbed of their childhood for the sake of a perfect report card, but rather the one who has preserved their curiosity about the world, their mental health, their adaptability to change, and their passion for continuous self-improvement.