Essay 32 Our Examination System for 12/BA/B.Sc. English by AG Ahmad

 Essay No 32

Our Examination System

Or Examinations

OUTLINE: (For BA Students)

1. Examinations have become an important feature of our educational life.

2. The students do not like them.

3. There are many advantages of examinations. They are the test of man's ability and test to credibility to man's learning.

4. They have many disadvantages. They are not a sure test of man's learning and knowledge.

5. The present system of examination thrives on cheating and fraud.

As, some-one has wisely said,

“Don't rely on getting easy questions.

Practice for the hard ones.”

Examinations are an important feature of our educational life. The students do not like them. The approach of an examination fills their mind with fear. They neglect their games and take their meal irregularly. Examinations upset their routine life. Games, meetings, clubs, societies and other activities are stopped at once. During the days of examinations, the students do not find time to entertain themselves. As it is rightly said,

“Everything was just going perfect,

Then exam came...”

According to the students, it is the most absurd system so far invented by man. Examinations are not altogether devoid of good. The first use of examination is that they serve as a test of efficiency. It is only through an examination that we can come to know about the progress of a student at studies. Examinations provide a tangible proof of the fitness of a student for the higher class. A university degree or a diploma bears testimony to the fact that a particular student has acquired knowledge of a fixed standard. Thus, an employer can safely entrust a job to the degree holder. As, some-one has wisely said,

Success is the sum of small efforts,

repeated day-in and day-out.

The second use of examinations is that they urge us to study properly. A careless student becomes serious near the examination. He buys books which he has no intention to buy and determines to work regularly. About half of the students in a school or college read for the sake of examinations. Thus examinations are the most effective way of inspiring a student to read. As, some-one has wisely said,

 “A large number of students don’t read to understand,

they read because an examination is around the corner.”

Thirdly, it is only examinations which help us in finding out the cleverest and most efficient student. Only through examinations, we distinguish between the scholar and the dullard, the genius and the dunce (foolish). To fill higher services, competitions are conducted by the Public Service Commission, and the top students are elected to fill the vacancies. Thus examinations help us in discriminating between the genuine gold and the sparkling brass.

“Half of what students learn in school is useful only during examinations.”

But this is only one side of the coin. Examinations have certain abuses as well. First of all, enormous strain during and near an examination, the students are affected by them physically and mentally. As it is rightly said,

Examination of the world without is never as personally painful

 as examination of the world within.

A number of them fall ill or develop nervous disorders. The second disadvantage of examinations is that they encourage cramming. The examinations at present are a test of memory rather than of intelligence. Chance plays a great part in all examinations.

As it is wisely said,

“Prepare well! Take two inks;

you may never know when one pen will stop writing!”

Our present examination system suffers from many malpractices. The students resort to copy without any fear. They cheat, bribe and threaten the superintendent or the examiner and adopt unfair means to solve the paper. In-spite of all these disadvantages, we have to put up with examinations as there is no other system to test the efficiency of the students.

As, some-one has wisely said,

"Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared,

For, the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer."

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