THE NEW EXAMINATION SYSTEM
 

Whether the existing examination system serves our present day needs or whether it requires to be changed, are questions which are uppermost today in the minds of not only those who are responsible for improvement of education in our country but also those whose children are studying in educational institutions.

Professor Nurul Hasan, Union Education Minister, recently in his address on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the Association of Indian Universitites observed that the existing system of examination began giving negative returns some years ago and has now become highly counter-productive. He went on to say that unless we make a major effort to overhaul the existing system of examinations, it will not be possible to carry out any major reform or qualitative improvement, such as revision of curricula, improvement of teaching and learning materials, or adoption of important and dynamic methods of learning.

Examination-The Dominant Factor

It is common knowledge that examinations have dominated education. The curriculum framers keep the examination as the ultimate aim while drawing up courses. The time-table of the school is prepared in such a way that the students can be best prepared for the examination. The quality of the school is judged on the basis of the Board's results. Not only that, even the teacher's assessment is based upon the performance of his students in the Board's examinations.

We used to say that examination acts as motivation for pupils and teachers. When the Oxford University held the first external examination for schools in 1958, it said that the examination would give a definite aim to the school masters and a great stimulus to scholars; and would afford an evidence to the public how far the exertions of both had been successful. It is a pity that in the name of motivation and stimulation the examinations became indispensable; instead of becoming a means to provide the right type of education they have become an end in themselves.

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According to the Secondary Education Commission of India, the educational system in our country was examination-ridden and that the dead weight of the examination (at the top level as well as throughout the school system) tended to curb the teacher's initiative, to stereotype the curriculum, to promote mechanical and lifeless methods of teaching, to discourage all spirit of experimentation and to place stress on wrong or unimportant things in education. It is, therefore, not surprising that any move for a change in the curriculum, teaching methods and evaluation practices should be met with resistance,,

Today passing an examination is considered more important than acquiring education. That is the reason why we read daily in newspapers about examinations being conducted under police protection. Incidents of malpractices in the examinations are on the increase all over the country. Nearly twenty thousand students-boys and girls-are reported to have been caught or found copying this year in the examinations conducted by the High School and Intermediate Education Board, Uttar Pradesh. One does not know how many more escaped being caught. Whether it is a Board's public examination or whether it is an examination of the University, or whether it is an internal exami- nation of a school, the situation does not change. Invigilators do not come forward to invigilate because they are threatened with dire consequences. Passing the examination has become as if a matter of fundamental right. A new phenomenon is lately being noticed and that is, the students who fail in an examination demand and, if necessary, adopt all kinds of agitational methods, that they should be promoted to the next class. Some time back one of the State Legislatures too recommended grace marks to be given to failed candidates in a public examination.

Gunnar Myrdal in his book on "The Challenge of World Poverty" has described it as a legacy of the colonial rule where importance was placed on passing examinations and acquiring status, while practical training for life and work was ignored. This spirit dominated, above all, the teaching and learning in tertiary institutions. But it was transmitted to the secondary schools where the main objective was to make certain that the students would be equipped to pass their entrance examinations for colleges. The primary schools, in turn, were imbued with the

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necessity of preparing pupils for entrance to the secondary schools. This is part of the explanation why education at all levels became general and academic in character rather than vocational or, relevant to the needs of society. This also accounts for the recruitment rules that exist today for various jobs and services where stress is laid more on examination results-First, Second or Third Division, rather than on the total personality of the individual.

Examination Reform-A Must

Undoubtedly, a new look to the existing examination system is required. Charles Colton said, "Today examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer". The examiner sometimes forgets that he has to evaluate the pupil's ability; instead he tries to show his own skill and knowledge in the question paper he sets. The National Policy on Education, issued by the Government of India in 1968, mentioned that the major goal of examination reform should be to improve the reliability and validity of examinations and to make evaluation a continuous process, aimed at helping the student to improve his level of achievement rather than "certifying" the quality of his performance at a given moment of time. Earlier, the Education Commission too had stated that the crippling effect of external examination on quality of work was so great that examination reform had become crucial to all progress and has to go hand in hand with the improvements in teaching.

Two main things have, therefore, to be done if the existing examination system has to be reformed. First, its domination over the educational system has to be minimised and secondly, the quality of examination has to be improved so as to make it more valid and reliable. In both these directions the Central Board of Secondary Education has taken appropriate steps while introducing the new pattern of education from the current academic session in its member schools.

CBSE Launches The Reforms

One radical change that has come about, is the introduction of the system of Grades instead of marks. Under the existing system, the result is declared on a 101 point scale of marking. The marks obtained by a candidate in different subjects (although

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there may not be any parity between those subjects because some may be high scoring and others less scoring) are totaled up and the result worked out on the basis of the aggregate. There is hardly a case where a student offering subjects which are considered to be less scoring is able to get higher aggregate marks than the one who offers subjects like Sanskrit and Mathematics for higher Secondary Examination. The concept of high scoring and low scoring subjects has therefore, to be given up. It only leads to anomalous situations. A candidate getting 56% aggregate marks is regarded today as superior to a candidate getting 55.9% marks irrespective of the nature of the subject offered and gets admission to either higher courses of study or gets a chance for being interviewed for a post. The Plan of Action on Examination Reform, circulated by the Government of India recently, rightly points out that this kind of situation causes a considerable measure of frustration. It also points out that the 101 point scale of marking together with the arbitrary minimum for a first, second or pass class is scientifically unsound. The system was adopted when our scientific knowledge about examinations was inadequate. It is no longer relevant and is, in fact, doing harm to the student population.

As is done in several other countries, the students will now be given five Grades: Grade 1: Outstanding, Grade 2: Very Good, Grade 3: Good, Grade 4: Fair, Grade 5: Poor, on the basis of scientific evaluation. Instead of totalling up the marks of different subjects, the grades will be awarded subjectwise and if any student wants to improve his grade in any subject or subjects he will be allowed to do so. Today he is asked to repeat ail the subjects notwithstanding his satisfactory performance in some of the subjects. This in fact, is a reform which was long overdue. It was in 1966 that the Education Commission recommended that a student should not be branded as a total failure if he passes in certain subjects but is unable to make the grade in others. There is no reason why he should carry with him the stigma of being declared an unsuccessful candidate if he has partially succeeded in his educational effort.

The system of grading, of course, raises an important question as to what will be the criteria for admission to higher courses of study. The Central Board of Secondary Education is seized

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with this problem and is formulating guidelines for the schools for the purpose.

It is a happy augury that some Universities and Boards of Secondary Education are also introducing the system of grades in their examinations. At the instance of the University Grants Commission, about a dozen Universities have accepted the new pattern on an experimental basis.. An Advisory Committee of the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education has recently decided to adopt the new system in the State. The IIT's and some other institutions of standing are already using the system of grades.

Future Strategy

Another important step in examination reform is improving its quality. The Central Board of Secondary Education has taken various measures in the past such as training of paper-setters, doing away with overall options and introducing internal options in question papers so as to eliminate selective study by pupils, introducing short answer questions to have a wide coverage of syllabus, providing marking schemes to the examiners and the standardisation of scores etc. Several other measures are in the offing. Greater emphasis is being laid on testing application of knowledge and understanding. Question banks with suitable test items are being set up in different subjects. Specimen question papers for the new Secondary Examination at the end of Class X are also being envisaged. Training of paper- setters and examiners will be further strengthened. In certain subjects, continuous evaluation through internal assessment has also been provided.

These and many other changes, Which have been accepted at the national level for reforming the existing examination system will, it is hoped, help in bringing about qualitative improvement in education and removing, to a considerable extent, the inadequacies and deficiencies from which the present system suffers.

Under the new pattern, the examination has to be a part of the educational process. It has to serve as a reliable too of measurement. And what is more important is the feed-back. The results have to be utilized to provide remedial teaching for the weak students; for the bright and gifted, more challenging programmes have to be provided. The examinations should also be utilized by teachers to improve their teaching methods. it is only then that examinations will serve their real purpose.

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