The system of public examination that is followed by our
universities and Secondary Boards is that old, traditional subjective system
that was introduced by the British rulers to produce clerks and copyists. The
system calls for a radical change, to suit the demands of the time. In this
system, examinees are asked to answer a few essay-type questions. In the
assessment of these answers there cannot be full uniformity or impartiality of
standard. "Men are we" some subjective factors are bound to
intervene, due to divergence of tastes and likes. Even the same answer would
secure different marks from the same examiner if the assessment is done before
the lunch or after the lunch when the examiner is supposed to be in a good
mood.
Besides, the subjective system follows secretive tactics. So
malpractices like copying and leaking of questions often take place. Some sort
of policing or strict vigilance is required to conduct the examination of a
large number of students. So experts think of gradually replacing the
subjective system of examination by an objective or a machine-based method. It
can be largely computerized in near future. The examinee will have to simply
put 'tick' marks or press the key to answer. The method is time-saving and
ensures much greater accuracy in assessment. But it is more expensive for a
poor and populous country like India. Besides, the subjective factor cannot be
eliminated in matters of setting the questions.
A good many days of the academic year is lost in holding
University or Board examinations and assessing the papers.So it has been
suggested that the entire work of checking up the progress and testing the
merit of individual students should be left to the teachers themselves. The
authorities would issue certificates of merit on the basis of this internal
assessment, provided it has been honestly done. A cumulative semester system
may be followed effectively. They argue that students mainly depend on a set of
answer on a cleverly picked and chosen questions. Memory work is the only asset
or stock-in-trade of such a system of examination. The entire system of
education has, as a result become examination-oriented. To pass the examination
somehow becomes the only objective of a large number of average or mediocre
students. Besides, a regular racket has grown around to foil the effectiveness
of the subjective system of examinations. Cram-books are plenty in the market,
as also coaching centers or teaching shops are mushrooming to help the
examinees to tide over the examination puddle. Corruption has crept in easily
at every step. What is needed, before all, is to frame the syllabus carefully
and to finish it within the prescribed period scrupulously. Next, the whole
business of testing the proficiency of students should be left to the teachers
themselves as they know the students directly. Questions should be set
sympathetically not to prove their ignorance or to beat them hollow but to
gauge their real knowledge. There should be no dodging or playing hide-and-sick
game with the examinees. Even text books may be allowed in the examination hall
to avoid the elements of luck or surprise. And written examination should have
to be backed-up by an efficient viva-voce or oral test, to complete the
process. Impartiality should be the guiding principle of teachers.
So it is now admitted on all hands that the old system of
examination has to be scrapped and a new method of evaluation of the merits of
students should be adopted, based partly on the subjective and partly on the
objective systems. Finally the method should have to adhered to with strict
honesty.
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