Most students are afraid of examinations, but examinations are very important today. They are also very interesting. Life today has become so complex that examinations have come to play an important role in one’s educational career. Examinations are considered so important that most students are afraid of them.
Examinations are important because they compel students to learn. Without them, most students would not learn. So they would know very little about the world. They would teach only those subjects in which they are interested in and ignore the other subjects which are thought to be difficult, though they are very important in the modern age.
Examinations also help us have some ideas about a person’s knowledge of certain subjects. For example, if a boy has passed the Primary School Examination, we can at once know how much knowledge he has. Accordingly, we can have some ideas of what kind of work he can do. This is why most employers want to know what examinations a person has passed before he is given some work.
The ability to pass an examination is indeed a valuable quality. It shows that the student is able to express his thoughts and ideas in a manner others can understand. It also shows that the student has acquired a certain amount of knowledge in some branches of study.
Besides, the mind of a student, even if he is dull, receives good exercise when he prepares for an examination.- A student’s success in an examination, therefore, helps employers and others to assess his mental or general ability.
Some people, however, argue that examinations test only a certain kind of skill. They say that many people have a good memory and a special ability to pass examinations and achieve brilliant results, though they have no capacity for original thought or imagination. But it should be realized that today the syllabuses are so extensive that a student cannot expect to pass an examination by relying entirely on his memory.
The student of today must not only have a fair knowledge of the subject matter but also be able to show his intelligence and power of reasoning, especially if he is sitting for a higher examination. Therefore, a student’s ability to pass an examination must indicate some of his mental powers as well as his grasp of the subjects that he has studied.
If there were no examinations, most scholars would have been less informed than they are today. Examinations compel students to read as much as they can, and as they do so, they absorb knowledge unconsciously. Further, because of examinations teachers have to confine themselves to the syllabuses which are aimed at imparting knowledge in a systematic manner, and thus developmental discipline.
Finally, examinations are interesting because we can test how much we ourselves know. When we sit for an examination we enjoy answering what we know, though we feel sad if we are not successful in an examination. Examinations are therefore an important part of academic studies.