Faulty Examination System

From gurukul to grading system Indian education assessment system has come a long way. But where has the education system placed us today? Are we creating similar looking products or creative individuals? Is the education system promoting all round development or just concentrated to build a country of doctors and engineers? Are marks the end of the road or gaining knowledge and wisdom?

In the modern age, kids are sent to school from the age of 3 and that’s when they are considered not as human child, but as a raw material which has to be made into a product. In the daily routine that they are molded into, makes them incompetent. Childhood has to be filled with exploration, trial and error, and connect with nature. The kinder garden nowadays is usually a 1000 square feet flat, where there growth is defined by a piece of paper and how well they behave in four walls. It is sad that the future of today should be taking their first with such a faulty method. Is it really important to mark and rank these little kids who are just learning numbers and hardly know the value of it?

Primary and high school examinations are marvelous at suffocating mind of young children who could actually come with bright creative results. We do have art, dance and different kinds of sports as a part of curriculum, but none are advocated as independent subject and never really made to understand its importance in regard with growth of our culture and society. These are merely treated as an entertainment from the hardcore subjects. And examinations to test Maths and Science, which can be made practical and activity based, are restricted to piece and paper test. Now a days getting marks is the only end, whereas knowledge is taking a back seat. Children with 90 plus score have zero in hand knowledge about any concepts. High scorers are seen in bulk, which shows that the concentration is just on marks, not on how much children learn by doing. Today, there is constant need to mug up the concepts, rather than use it. It’s an age when Newton’s laws are learnt by rote without knowing who Issac Newton was and how his life went on to create a genius of himself. These stories can actually get students to create new things but are restricted with time and materials to study and pass the exams. Instead, students mug up a lot of laws, theories and formulas, study over-night, ignoring their health and put everything on the paper next morning and then forgets it for the rest of their life.

The focus on the examination is more than required. The marks and results defines the student, but test has nothing to do with their abilities and personality. Cheating, comes out as the outcome of the examination system. Students focus just on the marks and adopt unwanted ways to obtain it. If students are made to realize the importance in believing their ability the outcome would be different. Good scorers are put on high pedestals, while others ignored. Hence, the students, not even realizing their true talent, take part is a rat race to be on the top. Suicide cases are on the rise because of the disappointment caused due to low score and inability to crack numerous competitive exams. There are a lot of young minds who are insanely genius in the field of music, gaming, animation and more. There is a blindfold created by the system which allow students only follow mainstreamed jobs. Students are never given a chance to stem out. On a higher level, awareness has to be given about various vocations based on their interests. Other vocations are not to be demeaned and thrashed.

The education system is creating more depressed youth rather than independent thinkers.