Exam – Running With the Hare and Hunting With the Hounds
Exam:
I have used this idiomatic expressions which means being in friendly terms with both parties in a quarrel as the title of my post purposefully. A quarrel ensues when two parties find it difficult to reach a rapprochement over an issue concerning them .But the dismaying fact is that certain issues have inherent in them ,an enigmatic combination of thesis and antithesis. One such is the topic of the desirability of exams in Schools and Colleges.
Given the nature of this topic, I will hold an ambivalent approach to it. In other words,I will run with the Hare and hunt with the hounds. The teacher in me believes that exams are an integral part of teaching-learning process and exam should follow a certain amount of teaching- learning .The argument is that examinations are the tools , tailor -made for quantifying and evaluating the learning outcomes. Exam result provides the teacher with ample feedback on the academic status of the students .This feedback can subsequently used for the follow up.
The more liberal teacher in me holds a different standpoint. His voice is the echo of the agonized cry of a student who has become a beast academic burden and who struggles to keep pace with the curricular indoctrination that is done in distinct packages in every period .Things come out of the woodwork in each teaching period and an average student starts goofing up things .This pitiful child feels out of place. But Brutus is an honourable man.
There is no denying the fact that we can’t do away with examinations because there is no other effective alternative. Very often , absence of choices rule the roost. The only thing that we can do is to get our children better equipped for these exams that have become certitude in the life of a student so that he will feel relieved from the smothering exam syndromes.
Wishing tension -free exam days to the student fraternity.
(Author: Mr. Melbin Peter)
