Are we obsessed with exams?
We need to start exploring better ways of testing students’ knowledge and skills
Recently, the Tamil Nadu Minister
for School Education K.A. Sengottaiyan announced the state government’s
decision to hold public examinations for students in classes V and VIII from
this academic year. The news came as a shock to education reformers. A few
months ago, when the proposal of introducing public examinations for classes V
and VIII, in line with the recommendations of the draft National Education
Policy, was mooted by the state government, it received mixed reactions from
education reformers, teachers, parents, mental health experts, activists and
politicians following heated debates on the issue.
The new policy decision makes me
raise these questions. Have we forgotten the purposes of education? Why are we
obsessed with exams at a time when some countries have abolished exams at the
primary and secondary levels? What negative impact will exams have on students?
Aren’t there better ways of testing students’ knowledge and skills?
Looked at it holistically, the
primary purposes of school education are to teach values to students, develop
their thinking skills and learning abilities, equip them with knowledge and
necessary skills in order to help them move to the next stage of education, and
prepare them to face challenges in life. What it implies is that subjecting
students to unhealthy competitions, celebrating a few students’ success in
exams and making other students feel dejected are not the purposes of school
education.
It is very sad that many schools in India bombard students with exams. Students
are preoccupied with exams and teachers are preoccupied with marking scripts.
Yes, the Indian education system is obsessed with exams. It is high time we
realised that it does more harm than good.
Examination is a threatening
term. It causes mental stress to the students. Fear of exams makes many
students in rural areas lose their interest in going to school or discontinue
their studies resulting in increase in dropouts. Exams kill the spirit of
learning. That is the reason why some countries have abolished exams in schools
at the primary/secondary level. They do not focus on marks and grades but on
the overall development of the students. For example, in Finland, which is said
to have the best education system in the world, students do not have any formal
examination until they are sixteen. The Finnish education system promotes
creativity and learner autonomy and does not encourage unhealthy completion
among students.
If there is too much focus on
exams and not on formative assessment, it will have a negative impact on
students and society. Rote-learning will be legitimised. Students will be
forced to go to coaching centres. More focus will be on coaching rather than on
learning. Students will be ranked based on the marks they score in exams and
this will result in causing mental stress to the students. Such education
systems will kill students’ curiosity and creativity, giving rise to
unproductive citizens in the future.
Alternative assessments
There are differences between
Alternative Assessments (AA) and Traditional Examinations (TE). AA is a process
whereas TE is a product (result). AAs measure students’ competencies in a
non-threatening environment throughout the course. It is “the process of
documenting knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs, usually in measurable
terms”. Holistic in nature, the goal of AA is to suggest improvements and help
students build their confidence and develop their learning ability. AAs in
different forms such as self- report, observation, discussions, quiz, homework,
portfolio, practical work, demonstration, class activities and oral
presentation can be conducted to assess what students can and cannot do. Such
activities help students develop their thinking skills and creativity. TEs test
only students’ memory skills and not their thinking skills. They are associated
with labels such as ‘failure’, ‘grades’, ‘ranks’ and ‘poor performance’ which
terrify young students and have a negative impact on them.
Priorities
Schools shouldn’t become exam
factories which produce marks and create unhealthy competitions among children.
Educational institutions should create an environment conducive for learning.
When learning is fun, students enjoy going to school. When assessments are
non-threatening there won’t be unhealthy competitions and a mad race for ranks.
How wonderful it will be if our students have happy schooling and joyful
learning.
Instead of focusing on exams and
introducing counterproductive policy decisions, the government should have
these priorities: improving the quality of teachers by creating opportunities
for their professional development, focusing on teacher training so that they
know what alternative assessments are and apply their knowledge to gauge
students’ capabilities in a non-threatening environment, promoting joy in
learning among students and preparing them for life.
Source | https://www.thehindu.com/
Regards
Mr.
Pralhad Jadhav
Master of
Library & Information Science (NET Qualified)
Senior
Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
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