System flunks the test

The child has hardly any free time to play and explore the world. Whatever time is left over from schools and tuitions is taken up by television, video games or now, increasingly, the Internet.

From the early days of school, only a belief in the 8216;nothing succeeds like success8217; principle is allowed to grow, along with a distaste for abstract principles, a mindset that gives too high a regard to 8216;results8217; and far too less to the means for achieving them.

The examination system as it stand today can hardly evaluate what is perhaps the most important aspect of education 8212; the involvement of the student in the learning process. 8216;Facts8217; and information are passed on to the students who are expected to 8216;know8217; and 8216;reproduce8217; them when asked. Both 8216;what8217; to know, and 8216;how8217; to know it, are laid down for the student. Things that are out of syllabus and of no significance as far as 8216;possible questions8217; in the examinations are concerned, become inconsequential.

It8217;s nobody8217;s case that there should be no examination system at all. However, this must be integral to the learning process itself and must promote the objectives of education, which are obviously deeper than merely getting good marks. For this, a system needs to be put in place which can assess students8217; progress not just in cognitive areas but also in areas that relate to students8217; attitudes, his/her personality and character. Students must be made active participants in the process of evaluation. The teacher can involve the student in writing about his/her own progress, deficiencies and strengths. Self-evaluation techniques can emancipate the students from 8216;exam phobia8217; and also improve the assimilation of knowledge.

One can sum up some of the essential ingredients of a more meaningful evaluation system in the following terms: one, it must be personalised. The system should be decentralised and oriented towards the multidimensional profile of the student. Two, it must be more broad-based than just evaluating the scholastic abilities. Three, it must be informal, including creative methods like games, activity based evaluations, projects, etc to reduce the emphasis on formal testing procedures.

Four, it must have greater involvement of both teachers and students to suit particular learning environments and also for 8216;empowering8217; both as meaningful participants in the system. Five, it must move away from annual examinations to a continuous mode of evaluation. These changes in turn call for an overhaul of the entire education system.