The Examination

Eassay Outline

1. Introduction
2. Abuses of examination
3. Uses of examination
4. Conclusion

Examination is a set of tests conducted by an educational institution at regular intervals to check the efficiency of students in there learning. These are of three kinds: oral, written and practical.

Examinees have to endure a lot of psychological pressure before the examination, during the examination and even after it. Their peace of mind is shattered. They keep awake late at night. They suffer from insomnia and loss of memory. Examinations generate mental agony. The fear of failure makes the students unhappy and depressed. Evil dreams haunt them. Before the examination they shun all the entertaining activities. They give up their games and leisure activities. They always remain busy in revising their crammed matter of preparation for the examination. They sacrifice the social life and resort to a lonely corner of the house. The anxiety of an examination tells upon the health of students in general. Again it is absurd to test the intelligence of the students within the period of three hours. It is generally felt that the examinations are not the true test of the intelligence of a candidate. Moreover the system of marking has also a number of defects.

All this does not mean that examinations are altogether devoid of advantages. Examinations do have their utility. They are useful in several ways. Examinations are a means of judging or knowing the ability of candidates. Good results in examination are taken as a sign of knowledge and ability. Examinations are very important because they determine the capability of the students.

Despite the fact that there are lots of disadvantages of examinations, the educationists have not been able to find a suitable alternative to examinations. They are a necessary evil. We must introduce some reforms in the present system of examination.

A few decades ago we introduced the semester system of examination. And then recently another experiment is made in the form of the objective examination system. All this is a step ahead than the past though further improvement can be devised in this direction. The system of examination should be overhauled because without changes we may not develop the potential of the students. The courses of study should contain the new developments in the arts and sciences around the world. They should include proper details of our history, culture and religion and should be in agreement with our national aims and purposes.

All our examinations should be arranged and conducted honestly and efficiently under the supervision of the men of integrity.