Examinations: Is it necessary or not?

By Chang Wei Chung

Pro

1. Examinations test a student’s attainment of knowledge in school & to determine whether a student has reached a certain required level.
2. To measure the differences between students.
3. To let a teacher to realize whether the teacher’s teaching method is successfully or not.
4. Success in higher education guarantees a brighter future in the society and results in giving access to jobs.
5. To make sure that the teacher and student follow certain paths laid down in the syllabus.
6. To force students to study.
7. To let the students know their weak subjects so that they can work hard to improve it.
8. To uncover one’s special talent.
9. To train the students on how to face challenges, hardship, pressure and stress more effectively.
10. To enable the students to practice their knowledge in real life/ tests.
11. To sort of those who are qualified and those who are not qualified.
12. To let the students realize which path or which profession suited them.
13. Will create healthy competition to obtain the most knowledge out of their schooling days.

Con

1. Cannot judge a book by its cover; cannot judge one’s ability and oneself by the grades of his / her examinations.
2. Some candidates are not perform in their best under some succumb stances, especially during examinations.
3. Parents have to spend a lot of money for tuition to ensure that their children do well in the examinations.
4. Candidates will only study whatever they have to study for the sake of passing exams, but not for their inquisitive desire.
5. Teachers pressure their students just for the sake of the school’s reputation only.

• Teachers tend to hurry through the syllabus and teach what is required to in examinations only.
• Schools gear students towards passing examinations.
• Schools sidetrack from the real purpose of gaining real knowledge.

1. Breeds the unhealthy ‘kiasu’ culture in students; making them selfish individuals and causing a lot of unhappy endings for students who don’t know how to handle stress.
2. Students will create unhealthy competition that caused their classmate relationship to be broken; cause the relationship and their social life to be ruin just for the sake of better than other.