‘Young Einstein’ Rahul is ultimate Child Genius
AFTER six days of heartbreak and controversy for the 20 contestants who started out on Child Genius, it all came down to one question.
And 12-year-old Rahul Doshi emerged the winner on the Channel 4 show last night after correctly identifying the Pre-Raphaelites as the group of artists to which John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt belonged.
The grammar schoolboy – whose IQ of 162 is higher than Albert Einstein’s – beat runner-up Ronan Maher, nine, from Lancaster, who has represented the UK at modern biathlon.
Rahul wowed viewers earlier in the week after memorising a pack of cards in an hour. His winning margin was ten points to four in the show’s final round, which he qualified for after getting 15 questions out of 20 on his specialist subject, Edward Jenner, medical innovation and methodology in late 18th Century England.
Other questions he successfully answered during last night’s episode included, ‘What is 27 multiplied by four, subtracted by 17, multiplied by five and divided by seven?’ (Answer: 65) and ‘In revolutionary France, who led the committee of public safety?’ (Answer: Maximilien Robespierre).
Both contestants, however, were stumped by the question, ‘What is the freezing point of water in degrees Kelvin?’ (Answer: 273).
Rahul, who became a fan favourite early on in the competition, said: ‘I’m extremely delighted to win.’ Throughout the series, viewers were introduced to Rahul and the rigorous revision sessions he took part in with his mother, pharmacist Komal, and his father, IT manager Menish.
Mr Doshi said: ‘I’m really proud. Rahul has got the intelligence, he’s got the work ethic.’
The series has not been without controversy, however. It was hit by cheating claims after one mother, Susan, was accused of helping her daughter, Olivia, 12, answer a question. It is claimed Olivia – after being asked for the name of a bus stop starting with ‘Kensal’ – looked over to her mother who then lifted her hand up, potentially hinting at the correct answer of Kensal Rise.
But the show’s adjudicator found no evidence of cheating.
Some educational experts have also criticised the series, saying the pressure the contestants are put under is akin to child abuse.
PHEW! The sweatypalmed agony is over for another year. Yes, after last night’s final, at last we know who takes the glittering crown for Pushiest Parents 2017. Channel 4’s Child Genius quiz show, with its fiendish spellings and complex sums, reached its climax, and Rahul’s super-proud mum and dad (aka Team Rahul) can bask in glory that their 12year-old saw off Ronan, aged nine, to be crowned Britain’s cleverest child. The champ’s father even lofted his son’s trophy to the cameras, acknowledging his paternal role in the triumph.
Well done, Rahul – or should that be well done Rahul’s mum and dad? Over the past week, we’ve had parents of contestants announce they ‘feel like Judy Murray at Wimbledon,’ Rahul admitting that ‘my dad helped me become competitive’, and accusations of some ‘helicopter parents’ cheating. One finalist on the quiz show was asked, ‘Why are you here?’ and he replied: ‘Because my mum pushed me.’
Fingers on buzzers, I have to ask: Do these parents truly have their little darlings’ best interests at heart? Or is Child Genius a form of child abuse? Not the physical kind, clearly, but the emotional kind that places a parent’s desperate hunger for a little prodigy above their offspring’s long-term happiness – even sanity.
We’ve had exam results days, which arrived with supposed proof of the pudding of worthy attempts to stop schools becoming mere exam factories.
Didn’t look like much had changed to me. There were the usual pictures of flicky-haired blondes jumping in the air clutching bits of paper, despite the fact that boys have overtaken girls for the first time in two decades.
Then the camera cut to a tearstained girl who hadn’t made her grades to get into her first-choice university. It made me think of my son back at home, face down in a land law tome in mid-August. And of a student I know of at a top London girls’ school who tragically committed suicide the day her results came out.
I don’t dare ask how my nephews and nieces fared yet, as it’s all become such a stressful national nightmare, with so much riding on it. And yet we parents can’t escape the blame. Not really.
A recent survey showed that mothers said they preferred their children to be sociable extroverts rather than conscientious nerds. Yet schools are still rated and judged by parents on one overriding criterion: exam results. Not on the popularity of their wellbeing curriculum, or their emphasis on life-skills (at most schools, nonexistent), sport, or on the happiness of the pupils.
The saddest part is, it matters so little in the grand scheme of things. It’s no consolation to those in clearing or having to face resits, but in a few years’ time, nobody will care whether you got a B or an A. Or where you went to uni, or ask what you got. Ever.
Yet the after-effects of a childhood spent being pushed uphill all the way by your parents can last a lifetime. Ask yourself the simple question: has the child genius at your school turned into the happiest adult? Or even the most successful? Thought not.
I leave you with the comforting words of Jeremy Clarkson, who despite his lurgy, didn’t forget to issue his annual calming message at this disastrous/triumphant time.
‘If you didn’t get the right A-level results, don’t worry,’ the presenter tweeted. ‘I got a C and 2 Us, and my chef is preparing truffles for breakfast.’