A NEW APPROACH TO EXAMINATION AND EVALUATION
The subject of Examination and Evaluation occupies an important place in the field of education. It is necessary for parents and teachers to know from time to time how the pupils are progressing and what their attainments are at any particular stage. It is equally necessary for society to assure itself that the work entrusted to its schools is being carried on satisfactorily and that the children studying there are receiving the right type of education and attaining the expected standards. This kind of check up of the school work is essential in the interests of all concerned-pupils, teachers, parents and the public. Examinations are the usual means adopted for this purpose.
Examinations, Internal and External Examinations may be either internal or external. Internal examinations are conducted by schools from time to time and at least once during the school year, for evaluating the progress of the pupils, for grading them, and when the time comes, for selecting and promoting them to a higher class. Of the purposes for which examinations are held, certainly the first, namely, the evaluation of progress is the most important. On it depends not only grading and promotion but even the method of instruction.
Annual examinations are a common feature of our schools. Some schools also hold terminal examinations, i.e., examinations at the end of each term. A few also hold weekly or monthly tests. Usually in the eyes of both the school authorities and the pupils, the most important of these internal tests and examinations is the annual examination. On the results of this examination the annual promotions are decided so that it dominates all other tests and examinations. A few school have replaced the annual examination by the cummulative results of periodic test and examinations.
The external examination comes generally at the end of the school stage. Its purpose is two-fold selective and qualifying, selecting those who have successfully completed a course and qualifying them from among many for the next higher stage. At one time besides the matriculation of University entrance examination (or its equivalent, the School Final or the School Certificate Examination) there used to be in some parts of the country, two other examinations, one at the end of the primary stage and another at the end of the middle school stage; and all these were regarded as public examinations. We are told that still these are prevalent in some States. We are convinced that our system of education is very much examination-ridden.
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Scope and Limitations of the Present System of Examinations in
India Both the internal and the external examinations in this country are more or less modelled on similar lines and they follow the same general pattern. Both are intended to test mainly the academic attainments of a pupil and his progress in intellectual pursuits. These do not test the other aspects of the pupils development; or if they do, it is only indirectly. The twentieth century has witnessed a widening of the meaning and scope of education. The school of today concerns itself not only with intellectual pursuits but also with the emotional and social development of the child, his physical and mental health, his social adjustment and other equally important aspects of his life-in a word, with an all-round development of his personality. If examinations are to be of real value they must take into consideration the new facts and test in detail the all-round development of pupils.
Even as a test of the intellectual attainments of pupils, the validity and usefulness of the present pattern of examinations have been widely questioned. It has been urged that the present system of examining by means of essay-type questions leaves so much scope for the subjectivity of examiner that it cannot be relied upon to any great extent. In this connection reference may be made to the findings of the Hartog Report on an Examination of Examinations which clearly proves the foibles of such a system. It may therefore be fairly inferred that as at present conducted, examinations do not help us to evaluate correctly even the intellectual attainments of the pupils.
The Effect of the Examination System on our Education We have already referred to the new concept of education. Unfortunately our present system of education still lays exclusive emphasis on the intellectual attainments of the pupils and this has been due mainly to the influence of our examination system. The examinations determine not only the contents of education but also the methods of teaching-in fact, the entire approach to education. They have so pervaded the entire atmosphere of school life that they have become the main motivating force of all effort on the part of pupil as well as teacher. It is not often clearly realised that a pupil's effort throughout his education is concentrated almost wholly on how to get through the examinations. Unless a subject is included in the examination scheme the pupil is not interested in it. If any school activity is not related directly or indirectly to the examination, it fails to evoke or enlist his enthusiasm. As regards methods, he is interested in only those which secure an easy pass rather than in those which may be educationally more sound but which do not directly concern themselves with examinations. He is more interested in notes and cribs than in text-books and original works ; he goes in for cramming rather than for intelligent understanding since this will help him to pass the examination on which depends his future.
As has already been stated it is not only the pupil but the teacher also who is affected by this examination craze. To the teacher the
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system of examination affords an easy solution to many of his problems. While it is difficult if not impossible, to show immediate, tangible and measurable results with regard to those intangible efforts of a good education such as character training, well rounded personality, a wholesome social adjustment and a proper development of appreciation of the finer values in life it is much easier to show results in intellectual attainments and academic progress. And if society sets greater store by these attainments than by what is conducive to character building and sound citizenship, how can the teacher help paying attention to the former attainments. Moreover examinations are, comparatively speaking, an easy method of grading pupils and pronouncing judgment on their work. Again, and this is most unfortunate, his success as a teacher is very often measured by the results of his pupils in the examinations. It is not uncommon to hear such statements a so and so is a good teacher because his pupils show a high percentage of success in the final examination. Headmasters in presenting their reports at the annual gatherings lay emphasis on the results of examinations and on the brilliant success of some of their pupils, thus provoking the criticism that the report resembled a profit and loss account presented to shareholders of an industrial concern. To judge the work of a teacher by the percentage of passes of his pupils in the examination is to keep alive the old and exploded system of payment by results.
The attitude of the parents also lends support to this state of affairs. Because of the close connection between employment and the passing of external examinations, the average parent is more interested in his child passing that examination than in anything else. Even the authorities who provide higher courses or employ young people are guided almost solely by the certificates awarded on the results of the external examinations. To this may be added the unfortunate trend in recent times to utilise the marks obtained at public examinations as the sole criterion for admission of students to most colleges.
Thus all circumstances conspire today to put an undue and unnatural emphasis on examinations, specially the external examinations and they have come to exercise a restricting influence over the entire field of Indian education to such an extent as almost to nullify its real purpose. Many complained of the hampering effect of examinations. They said and we generally agree with them, that the examinations to-day dictate the curriculum instead of following it prevent any experimentation hamper the proper treatment of subjects and sound methods of teaching foster a dull uniformity rather than originality, encourage the average pupil to concentrate too rigidly upon too narrow a field and thus help him to develop wrong values in education. Pupils assess education in terms of success.in examinations. Teachers, recognising the importance of the external examination to the individual pupil, are constrained to relate their teaching to an examination which can test only a narrow field of the pupil's interest and capacities and so inevitably neglect the qualities which are more important though less tangible. They are forced to attend to what can be examined; and to do that with success they often have to 'spoon-feed' their pupils rather
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than encourage habits of independent study. We were told that in some schools notes are dictated even in the lower classes and after some time the children feel unhappy and helpless if this is not done. This system is not so uncommon as we would wish to imagine.
The Place of Examinations Nevertheless examinations--and specially external examinations--have a proper place in any scheme of education. External examinations have stimulating effect both on the pupils and on the teachers by providing well defined goals and objective standards of evaluation. To the pupil the examination gives a goal towards which he should strive and a stimulus urging him to attain that goal in a given time, thereby demanding steady and constant effort. This makes the purpose clear and the method of approach definite. He is judged by external and objective tests on which both he and others interested in him can depend. And finally, it gives him a hallmark recognised by all.
For the teacher, too, it is helpful to have a goal and stimulus. Without these his work may lose in precision and direction. The external examination gives him standards common for all teachers and therefore universal and uniform in character. It also releases him from the responsibility of making wrong judgments about the work of his pupils. Finally, the external examination has another great advantage, namely, that it helps a school to compare itself with other schools.
Suggestions for the Improvement of the Present System In view of all these considerations it would appear that the external examination cannot be altogether done away with. Certain steps however have to be taken to minimise its undesirable effects. Firstly, there should not be too many external examinations. Secondly, the subjective element which is unavoidable in the present purely essay type examination should be reduced as far as possible. The essay-type examination has its own value. It tests certain capacities which cannot be otherwise tested. But it cannot be the only test for measuring the attainments of pupils. One of its greatest disadvantages is that it gives undue weight to the power of verbal expression in which so many individual differences exist. In order therefore, to reduce the element of subjectivity of the essay- type tests, objective tests of attainments should be widely introduced side by side. Moreover, the nature of the tests and the type of questions should be thoroughly changed. They should be such as to discourage cramming and encourage intelligent understanding. They should not deal with details but should concern themselves with a rational understanding of the problems and a general mastery of the subject matter. In this connection we consider that it is undesirable to set two papers of three hours each on one and the same day. Lastly, the final assessment of the pupil should not be based entirely on the results of the external examination ; other things such as internal tests and the school records maintained by teachers
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should be taken into consideration and due credit should be given to them. With these safeguards and changes, we feel the external examination can serve a useful purpose.
With regard to the prevalent system of internal examinations also certain changes are necessary. The emphasis on all-important annual examination should be reduced. A few schools have abandoned such examinations. They use the results of periodical tests and of weekly or monthly examinations for purposes of promotion. A few other supplement the annual and periodical examinations by more elaborate records of work done by pupils throughout the year. We commend these steps which will give the annual examination its proper place. The promotion of a child should depend not only on the results of the annual final examination but also on the results of periodic tests and the progress shown in the school records. The pattern of internal examination should also be changed. The objective type of tests should be widely used to supplement the essay-type tests ; other steps suggested with regard to the external examination should also apply in the case of internal examination
Need for School Records But neither the external examination nor the internal examination, singly or together, can give a correct and complete picture of a pupil's all-round progress at any particular stage of his education; yet it is important for us to assess this, in order to determine his future course of study, or his future vocation. For this purpose a proper system of school records should be maintained for every pupil indicating the work done by him in the school from day to day, month to month, term to term and year to year. Such a school record will present a clear and continuous statement of the attainments of the child in different intellectual pursuits throughout the successive stages of his education. It will also contain a progressive evaluation of development in other directions of no less importance, such as the growth of his interests, aptitudes, and personality traits, his social adjustments, the practical and social activities in which he takes part. In other words it will give a complete career. We have seen such records being maintained in some schools but their number is few. We recommend that these should be a common feature of all schools all over the country. A few specimens of cumulative record forms will be found in Appendix VII School may devise their own forms on the lines indicated therein.
Maintenance of Records This cumulative record will be maintained by the class teacher. The class teacher who will maintain it (he may also be a specialist in charge of a particular subject) is specially placed in charge of a class of pupils for one school year. He teaches them one or two important subjects and thus spends more time with them than other teachers do. He gets to know them personally and individually. His responsibilities as far as his class is concerned are not confined to the four walls of the class-room ; they extend over the pupil's entire life in the school, He is thus the right person to maintain the record.
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In some schools a class teacher remains in charge of a class for one year at the end of which he hands over the charge of his pupils to the class teacher of the next higher class. In some other schools the class teacher follows his class from year to year till the class goes out of the school. Both systems have their advantages. Whether a teacher remains in charge of a class for one year or for a number of years, the important thing is that he gets the opportunity to establish personal contacts with a group of pupils. Such personal contacts, specially with adolescent pupils have great value, and their importance cannot be exaggerated.
In most schools some sort of class-teacher system prevails ; but it is not fully exploited because of the supposed importance of teaching by specialist teachers. Often the class-teacher's responsibilities consist of only in maintaining the class register and collecting monthly school fees from pupils. There is no inherent contradiction between the class teacher system and the subject-specialist system. The two can be easily combined in the same system and the class- teacher can function in loco parentis for the pupils under his care with great advantage for all concerned.
Teachers and School Records It has been said that the introduction of cumulative records will increase the responsibilities of teachers and add to their work. This is no doubt true. But the advantages would outweigh the personal disadvantage to teachers. And once they become used to the system they themselves will come to appreciate the advantage of such school records. The cumulative records will greatly influence their work in the classroom specially their methods of teaching and handling children, so much so that the entire character of their work will change.
Doubts have been expressed whether teachers will be able to discharge this added responsibility satisfactorily in maintaining the records will they not be swayed too much by their personal predilections and judgments thereby nullifying greatly the value of these records ? Maintaining the records would need a certain amount of training. We have no doubt that arrangements will be made by the State Departments of Education to provide such training, perhaps in the Training Colleges for teachers. With such training and a certain amount of practice and with an occasional check-up by the head of the institution and by the Inspectorate, we have no doubt that the teachers will be able to discharge these duties to the satisfaction of all. There may be occasional lapses here and there, but these should not cause any anxiety or loss of faith in the teachers. In his sense of responsibility the average Indian teacher does not yield to any teacher in any other country. What he needs is clear direction, encouragement and sympathy.
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Need for Research In order to maintain the cumulative records properly the teachers will have to use a number of tests of different kinds-intelligence tests, attainment tests, aptitude tests and others. We expect that the State Bureau of Education which will devise the forms of cumulative records will also prepare these tests in collaboration with the Training Colleges. There is need for continuous research in these fields. The Training Colleges should also organise short courses of training in the. use of these forms and tests.
Evaluation and Marking At this stage it is necessary to indicate the actual means to be adopted in evaluating and grading the work of pupils whether in the external or internal examinations and in maintaining the school records. The present system of evaluating by percentiles, i.e. by numerical marks, out of a hundred, may have certain advantages but the disadvantages seem to outweigh the advantages. Firstly, it introduces too many subdivisions which are not only useless but cumbersome; and secondly, it is indeed difficult to distinguish between two pupils one of whom obtains, say, 45 marks and another 46 or 47. This system no doubt gives the semblance of accurate judgment which for most of the pupils it is hardly worthwhile to exercise and is beset with many errors. In this connection we would again invite attention to the Hartog Report on 'An Examination of Examinations' which fully reveals the limitations and errors of the system. A simpler and better system is the use of the five-point scale to which 'A' stands for excellent, 'B' for good, 'C' for fair and average, 'D' for poor and 'E' for very poor. In this system pupils are grouped in broad divisions which arc more easily distinguishable than the differences indicated by percentile marks. We recommended that this system be adopted for school records.