Random thought: If you go back to Greece 2000 years ago, and someone tells you "know thyself", would you suspect that he's actually telling you to beat off?

The syllabus cut isn't reducing stress. When a good grade is easier to attain, agencies seek alternative ways to sieve out talents, and students seek to distinguish themselves from the rest. You see people doing research projects, giving science fair presentations, winning engineering awards, doing overseas attachments, taking leadership positions, representing the country in sports, getting insane scores for SAT... and coupled with the fact that at least 20% of the people that you see around you are going to get 4 As, you start to wonder if it is really a good idea to focus on studies.

The system demands this much from students, and students are willing to push themselves this hard. Unless the employment scene changes drastically, the government can't really do much about students' stressing themselves out. The fact remains that some students are more talented than others, and regardless of whether the official benchmarks are raised or lowered, people are going to compare with each other.

But then again, who ever said that the syllabus cut is meant to reduce stress?