Academic Anxiety among Primary School Students

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION
An essential aspect of human life is education. Education aids in developing a person's moral, mental, and emotional personality, among others. Children's formal and non-formal talents can be developed via education. Education is the lifelong learning process that aids in developing students' knowledge, abilities, values, and beliefs. Any age, caste, or area may learn quickly with education. One of the psychological phenomena that have been explored the most is anxiety. The idea of anxiety has not been precisely defined and agreed upon, despite advances in the theoretical study of anxiety, the identification of variables that contribute to its development, the creation of instruments to diagnose https://doi.org/10.58421/gehu.v2i3.91 178 anxiety, and the invention of treatment procedures. Anxiety is distinguished from fear in terms of perception as a reaction to an unknown risk or a known danger.
Additionally, anxiety reactions are consistently more substantial and frequent than the perceived threat warrants, but the fear reaction is proportionate to the actual risk. Spielberger [1] defined anxiety as "the subjective experience of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and concern associated with an encouragement of apprehension, nervousness, and worry." Anxiety may be defined as apprehension, tension, or uneasiness that stems from the anticipation of danger, which may be internal or external [2]. Anxiety is an uncontrollable, diffuse, unpleasant, and persistent state of negative affect, characterized by nervous anticipation regarding unpredictable and unavoidable future danger and accompanied by physiological symptoms of tension and a constant state of heightened vigilance [3].
Tension, thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure characterize anxiety. People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness, or a rapid heartbeat [4]. Anxiety is not the same as fear but is often used interchangeably. Anxiety is considered a future-oriented, long-acting response broadly focused on a diffuse threat, whereas fear is an appropriate, present-oriented, and short-lived response to an identifiable and specific threat.
Anxiety may be defined as a psychological and physiological state of mind that includes components of emotion, cognition, physical symptoms, and behavior. It just indicates that there is a problem around that needs your attention. It looks like a series of chemical changes to the body and mind. Anxiety increases heart rate while decreasing the brain chemical that controls pain. Individuals may change their bodies and thoughts to focus on the goal, but when extreme anxiety makes people want to run away from the fear of the consequences or get ready for a fight. Anxiety is a mental illness that causes hesitation, fear, anxiety, and even apprehension.
Because of this mental illness, we learn how to behave in such a setting. There are two types of anxiety: moderate and severe. A person's entire life may be significantly impacted by anxiety, whether it is minor or severe. Mild anxiety aids people in getting ready for the effects. Anxiety is typically brought on by outside influences, unplanned occurrences, undesirable circumstances, and a person's "negative self-take." This negativity is constantly reminding us that something will go wrong soon. Man worries constantly, and such students show out-of-control anxiety's bodily and psychological symptoms. Some signs and symptoms might point to a heart attack or a general sickness. We can all agree that being nervous is not always a bad thing.
Anxiety is a widespread issue that affects society as a whole, including the workplace, administrative, and academic sectors, according to prior research by Agarwal, Mohan, and Singh [5]. We learn from academic anxiety research that the institutional environment's risk may impact it. For some students, it addresses student behavior and specific subjects like history, math, or physics. These issues can become sources of worry.
It has frequently been seen that a specific student struggles in other topics because he is terrified of one or more subjects he is required to study in school. Some factors, such https://doi.org/10.58421/gehu.v2i3.91 179 as deficiencies in study skills, emotionality, task-generated distraction, concern, etc., can be used to quantify academic anxiety. Ineffective study methods lead to deficiencies in study abilities. Biological sensations, including a rapid pulse, tension, nausea, and other symptoms, are linked to emotion. The interruption caused by the work is equally to blame for anxiety related to academics. It is the outcome of ineffective behavior, such as spending too much time reading questions to which you do not know the answers or having no background information. A student might lessen his anxiety by paying attention to his topic, learning it well, and remembering to respond correctly [6]- [13].
Young people nowadays live in a culture rife with concern about their academic futures. Teachers, parents, and everyone else wishes that the student would give 100 percent effort in each topic, but this is unrealistic for the kid. This age is where nothing seems to be guaranteed with certainty. After receiving 95% of the possible points, there is no assurance of employment or continued college entrance. Even then, not every student can get such high scores. Young kids frequently struggle with academic motivation and performance. It is because they always think about various things, whether beneficial or not. While their parents, instructors, and relatives focus more on academic deadlines and success, they are always preoccupied with self-identification. They establish a high-rank objective that the young pupil is ill-equipped to meet. Although academic anxiety is necessary to succeed in school and earn excellent grades, it also causes issues for students in high school and college.
"Effect of three-tiered approach on mathematics achievement and mathematics anxiety of primary school students" In this study, the researcher discovers that mathematics anxiety might be associated with stress and anxiety experienced when solving mathematical problems. When faced with particular mathematical issues or circumstances, worry and trepidation. Such thoughts, opinions, and experiences will also impact how well a student may acquire mathematics. Students with math anxiety typically experience high emotional worry, tension, trepidation, and dissatisfaction over their capacity to comprehend and do arithmetic. The researcher employed descriptive statistical methods, including mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis, to examine the nature of the distribution of scores and to determine the significance of the variance in means across distinct variables using the t-test. According to the hypothesis, there would be no appreciable difference between groups taught using the three-tiered approach and the conventional way of instruction in terms of mean gain scores for mathematical anxiety. The researcher discovered a significant difference between the groups taught using the three-tiered technique and the conventional mode of instruction regarding the mean gain scores of mathematical anxieties [14]- [20].
"A study of exam anxiety among secondary school students concerning some variables" In this study, exam anxiety among secondary school students was examined about factors including gender, grade, location, and academic performance. To measure the degree of test phobia among secondary school pupils. For the study, the researcher employed a survey approach. The researcher employed the survey approach to learn more about secondary school students' unfavorable attitudes regarding exams. It was shown that https://doi.org/10.58421/gehu.v2i3.91 180 there was no statistically significant difference in the mean test anxiety scores of pupils in classes 9 and 10. Their grade does not influence a student's test anxiety [21].
Academic anxiety among school students of Chhattisgarh role of personality culture and gender" The Academic Anxiety Scale, created by Singh and Sen [22], was used in this study to gauge the individuals' levels of academic anxiety. There are 20 items on the scale. These items come in both good and bad varieties. Higher exam scores suggest more academic anxiety, whereas lower test scores indicate less anxiety. The primary goal of the current study was to investigate the part that race, culture, and personality play in academic anxiety. In order to accomplish this goal, participants from both urban and tribal populations were used. Gender is also considered an independent variable in the current study because both male and female genders are included. Also utilized as independent variables were fourteen personality traits. One ANOVA was utilized for each of the fourteen personality dimensions. This led to the creation of a 2 (personality: each factor separately) X 2(culture) X 2(sex) design. From this, many inferences were made [23].
"A study of academic achievement with academic anxiety of secondary school students of Mawphlang Block" In this study, Mawphlang Block secondary school student's academic achievement and academic anxiety were compared. According to the research, there are several aspects associated with fears that have an impact on students' academic performance. A solid recommendation will satisfy an extra necessity for more fantastic research and implementing the findings to make the teaching and learning process successful. Furthermore, study in this area is desperately needed because Shillong's Mawphlang Block kids lag behind their counterparts in various academic achievementrelated categories. The study found that class IX students generally differed significantly in their levels of academic anxiety and between male and female students of various age groups, with some of them reporting low or high anxiety levels. In contrast, the majority reported ordinary levels [24].
By doing the critical review of the thesis related to anxiety, the researcher found that several reasons lead to anxiety among students, and also it impacts academic achievement. According to the reviewed research, anxiety among students also impacted their academic achievement. Most of the researcher's research was among secondary and higher secondary school students. The researcher's curious urge to understand the level of academic anxiety among primary school students lead to this study.
The study was conducted to find the difference based on gender, medium of instruction, i.e., Gujrati and English, and overall anxiety among primary school students. The researcher was able to draw some conclusions from this study on how Gujarati and English mediums affect academic anxiety, and from there, a remedy may be developed to aid students experiencing this worry. Consequently, both in and amongst girls and boys, anxiety levels fluctuate. There are ways to manage it. Students' anxiety can be reduced with the help of instructors, families, and schools.

METHOD
This study aimed to study academic anxiety among Primary School students. In the present study survey method was used as a research method. A standardized tool was used for data collection. The Academic Anxiety Scale for Children (AASC), developed and standardized by Singh, A.K. and Dr. A. Sen Gupta [22], will be used for measuring academic anxiety was used for research. For assessing academic anxiety among students, a 20 items scale assessing academic anxiety among students, which consists of a force choice type answer, will be used where a high score indicates high academic anxiety and a low score indicates low academic anxiety.
The present study data were collected by the primary school students survey method. Prior permission was taken from the Principal, and the researcher has explained research objectives to the Principal of all schools. The researcher instructed the students regarding the test and collected the data. According to the need, collected data were analyzed by mean, standard deviation, and t-test.
A Population is any group of individuals with one or more characteristics in common that interest the researcher [25]. For the present study, the population consisted of primary school students of Gandhinagar district, Gujarat. Sampling is the small proportion of the population selected for observation and analysis. In Gandhinagar District, there are four talukas, but here, with the help of the Random Sampling technique, the researcher selected Gandhinagar City. The researcher also selected 200 students from six English medium and 200 from six Gujarati medium primary schools from Gandhinagar city with a random sample technique. There were 400 students selected as a sample, of which 100 boys and 100 girls were taken from Gujarati medium Primary school and 100 boys and 100 girls taken from English medium Primary school

Results
According to the Objectives and Hypothesis researcher calculate the t-value for the data analysis and then interpret the same. a. Analysis and interpretation of mean score of Boys and Girls of Gujarati medium school of Gandhinagar City. In Table 1, the calculated t-value of 0.011 is lower than the table t-value of 1.96, which is insignificant at the 0.05 level. So, the hypothesis, "There will be no significant difference between the mean scores of the academic anxiety of boys and girls students of Gujarati medium primary school." is Not rejected at 0.05 level. Therefore, we can say that there is no significant difference in the mean score of boys and girls of Gandhinagar city of Gujarati medium school. It means girls and boys have the same academic anxiety in Gujarati medium schools in Gandhinagar city.
b. Analysis and interpretation of mean score of Boys and Girls of English medium Schools in Gandhinagar City. In Table 2, the calculated t-value of 0.94 is lower than the table t-value, which is insignificant at 0.05. So, the hypothesis, "There will be no significant difference between the mean scores of the academic anxiety of boys and girl students of English medium primary school." is not rejected at 0.05 level. Therefore, we can say that there is no significant difference in the mean score of boys and girls of English medium primary schools in Gandhinagar city. It means that girls and boys have the same academic anxiety in English medium schools in Gandhinagar city. c. Analysis and interpretation of mean score of students of Gandhinagar city concerning medium. In Table 3, the calculated t-value of 8.77 is higher than the table t-value of 2.58, which is significant at 0.01. So, the hypothesis "There will be no significant difference between the mean scores of the academic anxiety of Gujarati medium and English medium primary school students." is rejected at 0.01 level. Therefore, there is a significant difference in the mean score of the academic anxiety of Gujarati and English medium students in Gandhinagar city. It means that Gujarati medium students have slightly more academic anxiety than English medium school students in Gandhinagar city. d. Analysis and interpretation of mean scores of Boys students in Gujarati medium and English medium of Gandhinagar city In Table 4, the calculated t-value of 0.032 is lower than the table t-value of 1.96, which is insignificant at the 0.05 level. So, the hypothesis, "There will be no significant https://doi.org/10.58421/gehu.v2i3.91 183 difference between the mean scores of the academic anxiety of Gujarati medium and English medium primary school Boys students." is not rejected at 0.05 level. Therefore, we can say that there is no significant difference between the mean scores of Boys students of Gujarati medium and English medium primary school students of Gandhinagar city. It means that Boys students have the same academic anxiety as Gujarati and English medium primary schools in Gandhinagar city. e. Analysis and interpretation of mean scores of Girls students of Gujarati medium and English medium in Gandhinagar city In Table 5, the calculated t-value of 7.41 is higher than the table t-value of 2.58, which is significant at 0.01. So, the hypothesis, "There will be no significant difference between the mean scores of the academic anxiety of Girls students of Gujarati medium and English medium primary school." is rejected at 0.01 level. Therefore, we can say that there is a significant difference in the mean score of Gujarati medium and English medium primary school Girls students of Gandhinagar city. It means that Gujarati medium girl's students have more academic anxiety than English medium girl's students in Gandhinagar City.

Discussion
From the research reviewed, the researcher found that culture, personality, and sex play a role in academic anxiety and that in other research [24], it is evident that gender has a significant role in the level of anxiety. From Panda and Mishra [21], it was found that there is no difference in anxiety based on standard or grade. All the mentioned reviews suggested the researcher work on the academic anxiety among primary level students as the researcher believes that primary level factors ultimately affect students at secondary or another level. The researcher found a very significant difference between the academic anxiety of primary school students.
A researcher conducted a study on academic anxiety, and it was discovered that Gujarati and English medium students have some differences in their level of academic anxiety. Overall, both medium students have the same academic anxiety, or we can say there is no academic anxiety in the students. Nevertheless, Gujarati medium students had various effects on academic portions, so they had more academic anxiety than English medium school students. Gujarati students had more academic anxiety than English medium girls students. The medium of instruction significantly differed in primary school, and reviewed research found that anxiety affects academic achievement. Here, it is a matter to be discussed that anxiety plays a vital role in academic activities, whether it is achievement or any other aspect.

CONCLUSION
From the research reviewed, the researcher found that culture, personality, and sex play a role in academic anxiety and that in other research, it is evident that gender has a significant role in the level of anxiety. The researcher found a very significant difference between the academic anxiety of primary school students.
A researcher conducted a study on academic anxiety, and it was discovered that Gujarati and English medium students have some differences in their level of academic anxiety. Nevertheless, Gujarati medium students had various effects on academic portions, so they had more academic anxiety than English medium school students. Gujarati medium girl's students had more academic anxiety than English medium girl's students