 REVIEW

2.01. Examinations

In a welfare State, children have to be educated according to their age, aptitudes and abilities. For this purpose, evaluation becomes a necessary tool in the educational process. In this way, it has a positive function. Whilst our present system of examinations attempts to assess scholastic attainments, it should nevertheless have also a predictive function to help pupils choose courses of study suited to their talent and potential, so that they may develop into useful citizens. Unfortunately, in our country, the negative function of an examination is emphasised more than its positive role, and the objective generally is to find out what a pupil is really unfit for, thus creating a fear and a failure complex. This over-emphasis on the negative aspect does incalculable harm to the whole educational process and leads to highly undesirable consequences. The historical reasons for this in our country are reviewed later. It may be mentioned here that world education opinion is against the practice of declaring a student as having 'failed' in a subject or in an examination.

2.02. A World Problem

The systems of examinations prevailing in other advanced countries have one thing in common, viz., the positive function of evaluation. Some of the current systems and their basic features are described in the appendixes.

Wherever examinations are held, malpractices in one form or another are resorted to, but the incidence and magnitude of such malpractices may not often be very significant. Similarly, there is also the possibility of teachers being influenced in any form of internal assessment.

This can be seen from a comment in the Daily Telegraph, London, reproduced on page 10 of Appendix 7.

Till about the year 1930, the entire process of an examination and the declaration of results were; accepted without question as unchallengeable and final. Further, the results of an examination were relied upon for a large number of purposes, including purposes for which they could never really be a correct index. There is now a change in the situation. Firstly, there is a growing tendency to think in terms of the specific purpose or purposes for which the results of an examination are intended. Secondly, there is a more critical appraisal of the examination system based on an accurate knowledge of the complexities of the educational process and of the human mind. It is this knowledge that has led to the conclusion that the confidence hitherto reposed in the results of an examination is not at all justified. Research has shown that there are limitations to any method of assessment of any form of human behaviour. The application of statistics has provided a useful tool for assessing the reliability of the results of an examination. Research has also shown that results of an examination whilst reliable, may have, in certain cases, no validity.

In addition, the sheer magnitude of the task of organising as examination has itself become a major problem.

The world situation may rightly be summarised in the words of Sir David Anderson:

"The problem of examinations is giving rise these days to much speculational concern and even alarm amongst students, parents, employers, and the public generally, and not least amongst those responsible for setting and running the examinations."

The situation described in the foregoing paragraphs clearly shows that our country is not alone in facing complex problems associated with examinations. However, it is pertinent to mention that the results of research on

examinations have not made any significant impact on the systems prevailing in our country.

2.03. Terminology

In order to make the discussions in the report clear, an attempt is being made here to explain some of the technical terms used frequently. The achievement of a student in any one area can be assessed through a test. Such a test need not necessarily take the written form. In some cases, we are required to assess skills and here some forms of observation, etc., may be adequate. Generally, the word ,examination' is used for the written form of a test, although practical examinations are conducted and the performance of students evaluated through that process in science subjects. The written examination is, by and large, confined to test the scholastic characteristics of the student only. The personality of the student, his capacity for organisation, his capacity for adjustment with those with whom he works, his general health, etc., do not figure in an assessment through an examination. However, for the work of a person in various capacities in life, the characteristics of an individual as mentioned are fairly important.

In our schools, we have different classes. Thus, at the primary stage we may have four or five classes. At the upper primary or middle school stage, we may have two or three classes. At the secondary/higher secondary stage, we may have three classes. The duration of instruction in each class is one year. Promotion from one class to the next is made mainly on the results of written exa- minations which are held at least once in a year in the school. Such examinations are called class examinations.

In some States in our country, there is a common examination conducted for all the students of a region at the end of the higher primary or middle school stage. Almost invariably, there is an examination conducted by a board at the end of the secondary or high school stage

and higher secondary stage for the pupils of all the schools in the region. Similarly, universities conduct examinations for students of all the colleges. affiliated to them at the end of each or after a certain specified period of time. All such examinations are ordinarily called Public Examinations.

The State and Union Public Service Commissions and professional institutions like the Institution of Engineers also conduct examinations for large groups of students. Such examinations could also come under the category of public examinations. However, it is to be stressed that, ordinarily, State and Union Public Service Commissions conduct competitive examinations and are more concerned with ranking in a certain order rather than with a pass or fail. To this extent, their examinations are really different,

In this report, the term 'Public Examination' will be used mainly to describe University and School Board Examinations. In such examinations, the results are declared in terms of pass and fail. To pass a Public Examination, it is often necessary to obtain a minimum pass mark in all the subjects prescribed for the examination or a cer- tain number of specified subjects. Failure in one or two subjects may lead to the student being required to appear in those subjects at a supplementary examination. Marginal failures in one or more subjects are often condoned, on the basis of certain rules or through discussions in committees, by the award of grace marks.

In addition to the declaration of results in terms of pass and fail, the common practice in our country is to classify candidates into three divisions: first, second and third. Successful candidates are issued mark-sheets setting out the marks secured in different subjects. Ordinarily, the 'raw' marks as assigned by the examiner are furnished to the candidates, although these marks are subject to con- siderable error. In a few cases, the 'raw' marks are converted into 'grades' and the result of a candidate in a subject or in the examination as a whole is given in terms of grades.

2.04. Ancient Practices

The origin of examination is shrouded in obscurity but as the acquisition and utilisation of knowledge is fundamental to human progress, there must have been some rudimentary testing procedures and examinations from time immemorial. In ancient India, only the Vedic texts were often the subjects of study. Rote-learning was the method used. Panini refers to this in his Sutras. Examinations in the recitation of such texts seem to have been contemplated. The examinee who made a single mistake in the recitation of the text was classified as a pupil of one error. Similarly, a pupil who committed two lapses was one of two errors. In this way, pupils were graded even up to 12, 13, or 14 lapses. A predetermined standard of perfection was the norm and the process of evaluation was restricted to assessing the shortfall from the perfection. The teaching-learning process was not strictly limited in time; the concept of what we now call a minimum standard of attainment and the consequent ideas of pass and fail do not appear to have existed.

Examined from We educational standpoint, it is clear that the stress in the ancient teaching-learning process and evaluation was on memory. The importance attached to memorising was perhaps enormous and probably inevitable, as knowledge had to pass from man to man very largely through oral instruction. This technique is even now continued in certain institutions called 'Pathshalas'. This pathshala technique has influenced our schools and colleges too and is largely responsible for the stress we lay on the 'remembered matter' in our examinations today. It should, however, be pointed out that this stress on memory does exist in other countries too, but perhaps to a lesser extent.

2.05. Impact of British Rule

With the advent of British rule in India, there was a

specific shift in our educational system. Our rulers thought in terms of their basic needs. This is clear from the purposes for which the universities were established in 1857: "to ascertain by means of examinations the proficiency acquired by candidates" and "to provide a test of eligibility for Government service". The British planned for the education of Indians through the medium of English with the sole purpose of training suitable Indians for employment- in the British Government or British Companies' services. Employment then was mainly in the clerical cadres. Since recruitment to service was related to an examination result, the concept of a minimum standard of proficiency and hence the concept of pass and fail automatically crept in. In all these examinations, the stress was on memory and this was accentuated by the general background of our own teachers, traceable to the old pathshala technique.

During the British rule, courses of study and the number of subjects to be studied for a public examination were revised from time to time. During the period when we were moving towards Independence, there was a desire among our teachers to bring the courses of study up to date. In this attempt, several new topics were included but correspondingly no attempt was made to eliminate topics which were of no consequence. Therefore, the syllabi prescribed for the different subjects, as also the number of subjects, became so large as to be beyond the capacity of the average student. With the rapid expansion of education, the quality of teachers available also deteriorated. Simultaneously, hundreds of sub-average students who should normally not have been admitted to courses of higher education began to crowd colleges and universities. This process has continued even after Independence. The net result has been an indirect encouragement to the growth of malpractices.

Restricted admissions at the higher stages of education and a careful check of the courses of study prescrib-

ed for an examination can help to reduce the factors which encourage malpractices.

2.06. Importance of Examinations

During the last 50 years, we have witnessed the growth of a semi- mechanical' recruitment to jobs. In the past, there were long- duration interviews supplementing written examinations for the recruitment of candidates for employment. The selection committees, even for clerical posts, attached considerable importance to the personality of the applicant, his general knowledge and his performance in extra-curricular activities. This practice of an over- all assessment of a candidate has, for all practical purposes, gradually disappeared. This is partly due to the fact that there is a feeling that the interview is a cloak for favouritism and nepotism. Another reason for mechanical methods of recruitment is the fact that the number of applications received in response to a single advertisement is unmanageably large. This forces those concerned with selection, to avoid giving weightage to extra-curricular and other activities and to adopt a clerical approach to the selection of candidates, In this technique, the percentage of marks secured by the candidate at the public examination becomes the sole criterion for selection. The marks secured by a candidate are subject to considerable error. Appendix 7, page 3, shows how unreliable the results of public examinations can be. In the circumstances, to con- sider a candidate who has secured 58.5% superior to one who has secured only 58% is meaningless. Yet, this is not only what the public believe, but also educationists, with few exceptions.

Even in considering the admission of students to higher classes in schools and to the universities, the percentage of marks secured by a candidate appears to have become the sole criterion.

As a natural consequence of what has been described above, students, parents and employers today think only in

terms of the marks secured by a candidate in a public examination. As a result, students at school and college have started neglecting their regular work. They are more interested in finding means and methods of securing more marks in examinations. This has resulted in the mushroom growth of coaching classes and a proliferation of `guides' and cribs. It is not uncommon to find students studying these 'guides' only for about a fortnight before the examination or even to find 'guides' which provide a final check as the student enters the examination hall. Surprisingly, some of the questions from these 'guides' do appear in the examination papers. Various forms of links, real and imaginary, are established by the students between the paper- setters and 'guide' writers. For the sake of their further advancement, many students strongly feet that to get more marks, by any means, fair or foul, is far more important than anything else. They believe-and sincerely too-that one way of getting on is to sin once in the examination and thereafter forget about it. Several students have now begun to think that indulging in malpractices is just a way of life; some, by their behaviour, give the impression that they think it is a fundamental right! The most deplorable aspect of the matter is that parents and teachers are also concerned only with examination marks and not with the means by which the marks are obtained. The real processes of education are fast disappearing and its higher objectives are losing significance. This accounts for irregular attendance, indifference to the value of scholarship and complete loss of love for learning.

2.07. Class Examinations in Schools

In most of our schools the work of the pupils is assessed mainly through a few written examinations conducted during the year. Either because of the large numbers involved or because of the heavy work, teachers make no effort to use processes other than the written examinations.

These annual and bi-annual examinations are internal examinations conducted by the teachers themselves. Even these examinations tend to accentuate the fear complex in pupils. Part of the blame for the development of this fear complex must be shared by the teachers, some of whom frighten their pupils of the consequences of failure, leading, inter alia, to the loss of one complete year. This of ten forces pupils to indulge in malpractices even in these internal examinations. Malpractices are sometimes encouraged. Where a teacher is giving students private tuition, the teacher concerned takes a 'special interest' in them. Sometimes individual members of the boards of managements exert pressure to ensure that certain pupils are passed. This starts off a train of malpractices. There can be deliberate leakage of question papers, surreptitious assistance may be provided and copying connived at. Thus, bad institutions can initiate pupils into malpractices during the early stages of their education. If this happens, pupils are nurtured in an atmosphere of malpractice and come to rely on various forms of malpractice to ensure their promotion from class to class. The contagion is carried from one institution to another and is enough to infect pupils when they appear for a public examination. The virus spreads-and spreads fast-infecting almost every educational institution and almost every pupil.

2.08. Public Examinations

Most of the public examinations conducted in our country are concerned with very large numbers of candidates. The conduct of these examinations follows more or less a traditional pattern. This is described in the sections which follow.

2.09. Question Papers

A paper-setter or a board of paper-setters is appointed to set a question paper/papers in a subject. After the papers are so set, they may be passed on to a moderator/

board of moderators. Thereafter, the paper is ready for administrative processing.

There are several defects in this procedure. In order to maintain secrecy, many authorities appoint paper-setters and moderators just before the examination. The time given to them to set the paper or moderate it, is extremely short. Most of them have to attend to this work in addition to their normal duties. Therefore, the papers are set without the necessary thought and planning. Conse- quently, a paper may not be strictly in accordance with the syllabus; the questions may not have been distributed evenly over the syllabus; the questions may ask for too lengthy answers with the result that even the best prepared examinee cannot answer the questions properly within the set time; the problems set may be either out of the syllabus or may be such that they cannot be solved; the language of the questions may be ambiguous. The existence of such defects in the examination papers upsets candidates and leads to protests and disorder even when the candidates have absolutely no desire to indulge in malpractices. In several examinations, there is more than one medium of examination. The paper set is translated into different languages. The translation, in spite of precautions, can leave room for ambiguity. All the above defects are easily remediable. If paper-setters and moderators are appointed sufficiently well in advance, most of the defects mentioned can be removed. This will improve the fairness of the examination and prevent unpremeditated de- monstrations, confusion and disorder at the time of the examination.