Most of the schools have already shut their doors and others will do so in the next few days as summer holidays start. For many students examinations meant an attempt to achieve goals they set themselves in a bid to take up a career they want; for the younger ones it was a chance to assess the progress registered over the past scholastic year.

But examinations are not only those students sit for at the end of an academic year or to finish off a course.

They are not just a paper or two with a number of questions one has to answer after having studied for long afternoons, evenings and sometimes nights too. They are not only those with a time limit in which students have to show their examiners how much they have learnt and the grasp that they have of a given language.

There are other examinations, perhaps more serious ones, which one has to face every day. And they are not easy to pass either.

In these cases, there is no need for revision and there is no need of studying. It is just the experience that comes in handy when dealing with a problem, with a difficulty, with something that goes wrong and it seems like the end of the world.

Everyone has his or her responsibilities in life.

Students have their schooling to see to, but they must also learn to live first within their family and later on in society. And this is why there needs to be an emphasis on a type of education that caters for far more than knowledge in subjects learnt at school. The years spent in a college must lay the foundations for a future that nobody knows.

Parents have their upbringing of their children to look after and, again, they must look at all the aspects of a child’s life, not only how well they will do in their examinations.

Many parents commit mistakes, they are only human after all. But what is important is that they learn from their errors and correct them the next time they come face to face with a similar situation.

Workers have the duties they are assigned to every day. They must carry them out diligently and in the best way possible. They do so for their own good, because ultimately their standard of living depends on the pay they get at the end of every month.

They have their duty towards the company that employs them and, in the wider sense, towards the country’s economy. Every person who is productive is important in the country’s overall scenario.

Managers and company owners – themselves workers too, by all means – have their own tasks to perform as well. They must balance the interests of the company they are running and the conditions of the workers they employ. They must work hard for the company to move forward and at the same time give attention, collectively and individually, to all the members of their staff. Even they have their own responsibilities towards the country’s economy.

The older generations, particularly those who have retired after many years of work, must act as guides to the younger ones. Their wealth of experience and knowledge is something that should not be discarded; on the other hand, they could still serve their families and society well in whatever “job” they are asked to do.

These are just a few examples. There are many more sectors in the population who have their own responsibilities, which they must perform with commitment, dedication and determination. We all must do out bit for ourselves, for our family and for the country.

Life is an examination. Every day. It is hard to pass, but with a greater effort from each and every one of us our individual and collective experience will be better.