Examinations

Examinations in the field of educations have become a source of fear for the examine es, a yardstick of teacher’s efficiency and also an essential part of the educational system. It has been repeatedly emphasized that the system of examinations available in Pakistan is not foolproof. The educationists have not been able to find a suitable alternative to examinations the internal assessment system has not been free from malpractices. Examinations m the fields of education are very important because they determine the capability of the students as far as their intellectual make-up is concerned.

The examine es suffer a lot from psychological torture before the examinations, during the examination and after the examinations. A day before the examinations is quite troublesome. The examines think of questions and. dream of questions still they feel that they have not been able to prepare properly for the examination. Everything seems to disappear from his memory. In front of the examination hail, he is unnerved by the suggestions of other students, some say that they have prepared all the questions thoroughly; others think that certain questions are sure to be asked. These types of remarks and suggestions make them lose their confidence. During the examinations the eyes glance over the question paper hurriedly and if the question paper happens to be difficult drops of perspiration glisten on the forehead of the candidate. He looks here and there and asks for a glass of water. On the other hand if the question paper happens to be easy the candidate fails to decide which question he should do first. After the examination the examine es remain completely dissatisfied with their own work and calculate their marks almost daily. The more they think about the examinations the more nervous do they become. As the Judgment day comes and the result it out, very few seem to be happy. Some complain of securing very low marks, others remain dissatisfied.

It is some-what ridiculous to test the intelligence of the examine es within a period of three hours. There is a possibility that an examine e has read so much that he may not be able to digest the material and present it cogently. In this manner it is generally felt that the examination is not a true test of the intelligence of a candidate. More over the system of marking is not fool-proof. In other words it is not possible to be as objective in assessment as it is supposed to be; in many cases the examiners are different, so standard of marking is also somewhat different. Another defect in the present system of examinations is that the candidates totally depend upon the whim of the paper setter. It is left to the discretion of the paper setter to make a choice of the various questions from the prescribed syllabus. All of these factors go against impartiality which is supposed to be very important in education. The system of examinations should be overhauled because without changes we may not develop the ailments of the students. Now a day’s greater emphasis is laid upon mugging up facts without co-relating them with the practical life. This simply means that the system of education is divorced from the day-today problems of life. The candidates should be given ample time to answer questions exhaustively and a general level of intelligence should be determined by some objective method. It has also been proposed that there should be open book system as far as examinations are concerned, it is based upon the presumption that only those who know the subject will able to answer the questions properly, and others cannot. Similarly another suggestion regarding the reforms in the examinations system is to have spaced assessment of the candidate. It is pursuance of this suggestion that semester system was introduced in some of the universities of Pakistan. But these reforms have not been able to work properly and it is still to be seen, when other reforms brought about in the system of examinations.