Examination is a test of a person’s capacity, knowledge, and ability. It proves what standard of learning a person has acquired during a specific period of time in a specific syllabus. It is the most hated and most shunned things for some students who never like to indulge in it with pleasure until they have a charm of acquiring a degree. Otherwise, they compare it with a nightmare.
Yet examinations are not totally devoid of good. There is a saying about it.
Trials are a veritable curse but they have their use.
Education System and Exam
The system of education of mostly examination ridden which aims at the test of achievement and success. The examination is the center of studies and hard work. It is a motivating force to work.
Its importance and efficacy have been called in question. The most important point is that examinations are not the real test of knowledge and understanding. They are the test of ignorance or cramming. Still, we can say that examinations are necessary evil which cannot be avoided.
Uses of Examination
Difference between genius and dunce
Examinations have many uses. They help us find the most efficient individual among many. we can distinguish between the scholar and the dullard, the genius and the dunce. In this way, they help us discriminate between the genuine gold and the sparkling brass.
Compel to work hard
Secondly, the examinations compel us to work hard. the careless students become serious near the examinations. They buy books they had no intention to buy and gird up their loins.
It is a fact that many students read for the sake of examinations. Thus, examinations are a very effective way of goading students to read.
Fitness for promotion to a higher grade/class
Thirdly, examinations are proof and guarantee of man’s efficiency. They provide us a proof of the fitness of the student for promotion to a higher grade/class. An employer can safely entrust a job to the degree holder. Without a degree, no one will higher his services. The factories, industries or mills cannot allow the person to perform a technical task without a specific degree/course.
Way to attain degrees / diplomas
Similarly, we do not ask everyone to prescribe medicine for us. Only the person holding a degree enjoys the right to operate upon our body. Hence, if we abolish examinations, we shall have to abolish degrees or diplomas.
Abuses of examinations
Examinations have certain abuses as well. Many students consider it a curse. They consider them to be a game of chance. The students are never sure of their success. There are always doubts in their minds. Success does not depend upon preparation. Even a student with selected studies may pass and the student with thorough preparation may fail.
Uncertainty of success
Some students keep studying the whole session but fail. On the other hand, many others who buy help books and cheap notes near the examinations and cram a few questions, pass. Such examinations are a curse for the shining students.
Test of memory
The examinations are a test of nerves. All examinations have a limit of time and place. A student is tested at a bad place and in a bad manner. The question arises how a student’s hard work and worth for a semester or full one year is judged in a short time. They are never a foolproof test of one’s ability. They are the test of one’s memory and writing/typing speed.
Use of unfair means
Some students try to use unfair means to pass out the examinations. The innocent, hardworking and intelligent remain in the background.
Final words
But in spite of all this, we cannot say that there should be no examinations. There must be some proper way of judging the real worth of the students. So proper changes are required to avoid the abuses and increase the usefulness of the examinations. The assessment criteria of the examinations must be improved in such a way that all the students can show their abilities and can pass them without any fear.
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