When i started the last post on same topic i took a slight detour while picturing the old classroom , the effort was solely to convey that very little has changed in the system. Its month of March tht means its Class X / Class XII board exam time again .. same old remember Hall ticket ... be in the exam venue on time , do not copy/interact with kid next to you , concentrate ,perform well in the all important exam , the same boring academic rigmarole the system imposes on us... This one test is supposed to determine where u end in life (atleast that's what the kids think or are made to think) that is the system most of us grew up in , some say we are good because of this sytem , maybe or maybe not ... i wud like to believe we made it despite the system !
So this post is my ramble on the current system as i compose this i realise i will make one more post after this !
As i read the newspaper i see stories about how certain kids forgot their hall-tickets and reached exam venues , a few other kids missed their train / got stuck in traffic etc and cudnt make it to exam hall on time . This time all these people called some 'Board Helpline' and informed the powers tht be of their miserable plight. Kids who cudnt make it were allowed to write in nearest centre , the ones who came late were granted extra time to finish their papers , the kids who misplaced their hall ticket were allowed inside !
Thts such a nice story for the newspaper ! But seriously why were the kids made to travel to a far-off centre , why cudnt they give it in a place close their home in first place ? Wud a Hall ticket be needed if the kid is writing exam in the same school itself or cudnt the examination Authorities collect the photo and signature of each candidate . Later along with Qn sheets given to the neutral invigilator at kids own school ,why cant they give a sheet containing Candidate name , photo , signature ?!!!
A poor 15 yr old kid already has the pressure of one exam which (acc to her/him ) will determine where she/he will end up in life ... it doesnt matter if he/she has aced the smaller tests , exams in Class X , it doesnt matter if he or she has topped from Class I to Class IX ... This one exam determines his worth ... at such a young age isnt tht a huge pressure you are putting them under ...
No i wont take talk like survival of fittest etc ! coz my point is this determination of academic worth after 10 yrs of schooling shuldnt be based on a single exam held on one particular day in the year .
Finally doing well in the exam is not just about ur academic worth , its about how well you are handling the stress , how thousand other external/internal factors co-odinate and cooperate with you plus some dollops of luck which determines how you perform in this system . Make no mistake about this -hardwork does pay most of the time .
But when you see external factors like simple forgetting to get ur pen box , vehicle breaking down , traffic jam and a 100 other things make a mess of quite an amount of hard work , you gotto feel for the poor kid being put under such extreme pressure !
So what do we DO about this ?
Proposal 1 :Cant a computerised test like SAT be conducted between say March 1 to March 31 be used instead of all this ! kids can choose their own order of computersied test , they can take their stronger subjects first or move from weak to strong , which ever suits them . Bottomline is technology needs to be used to make the scene better for the students end to end
Proposal 2 : Dont reduce exam to a single chance in an academic year .. give them an opportunity to bounce back from unexpected setbacks . Second chance based on predefined conditions - to be selected when applying for exam
Based on their previous scores / averages the kids can set a minimum and good score for an exam for eg if im strong in English and i expect to score 70 min .. i wud set
the range and if fail to score 70 or above , but at same time score above 50 { min target - 20 } then I can be given a retest chance
On the other hand if im sure of acing say Math and set my min score target as 90 then if i dont score 90+ but score above 70 { min - 20 , again helps to convince the Board tht u r a genuine 90+ type of guy } then u can be given a chance again
Now if u aim to score 70+ and score 42 then u dont get a second shot , same case u get nervous and screw up twice , then u had it coming kid !
[Note :Im just making up a few numbers here for illustrative purposes , but the aim of the exercise according to me is to reduce luck factor , wean away pressure and allow people a fair chance to make a mark]
Proposal 2.1 : Again computerised tests as mentioned earlier to be administered for all subjects , this will help kids with not so good handwriting (esp ppl who write like me ! ) , since no one writes anything by hand anymore , so why insist on result of such a huge exam dependent on someone's handwriting . These days computer corrects everyone's english spelling , so punishing kids for English spelling errors in manual papers doesnt make sense anymore IMO !
PS : Part 3 of this on the way ... now thts connected to education scene but in a totally different way !
PPS : In case you are wondering i did screw up my board exams , but managed to move on and do not so badly after tht but at the same time I did ace another Board exam , so i know how it feels to be on both the sides !
4 comments:
Agree with some, disagree with most...
People coming late...not necessarily due to traffic or distance...most people have really bad time sense...believe me! But I agree on giving them the extra time and ensuring that the centres are close to home. But what about those where parents decided that a school some 20Kms away is good for the kid and sent him there. Kid has not much choice, does she?
Even in '96 my hall ticket had my pic...and in Aus, there were no hall tickets, just my ID card...but then there is always some ID required...if people forget that for an important exam, they deserve to be shooed out I feel :)
Pressure comes from different factors...not just about exams...but parents expectations, etc. That needs to be handled properly.
Computerized tests: problem is with Govt kids who wouldn't have had any experience with computers till that date. You don't want them flunking because they didn't know how to use the mouse or their typing speed was slow would you?
Exams are never about stress, it is just about your knowledge and what you learnt during that year. Stress comes from outside... parents screaming to you that you won't get anywhere in life if you don't do well, and our own peer pressure. If we don't care about all that, all it takes is studying some books and turning up and writing it out..
Agree about the single chance...the IPL model of leagues was a bit like that...a team plays amazingly well, but still has a single point of failure in the finals, while the EPL etc go by declaring those at the top of the table as winners.
And don't know about other states, we had supplementaries for those who flunked the main exams...and college admissions were delayed to take them in too...
My next post will explain why i suggest computerised tests !
Coz i feel the whole model should of teaching needs to be changed . The post about computerization of education is on the way and should answer ur Qn !
This post was unplanned and i just happened to read about these kids taking exams , and then the post just happened :)
Hmm. Your thoughts on education is centered around technology. Education shapes people, and yes, hence becomes the pivotal point around which the life normally revolves.
Having said that, I reiterate my point about what can be classified as education. I personally think, there is a lot of learning in school; but education has to go beyond just learning from textbooks. And, for this to take a u-turn - the people who design the system have to change. We have to start understanding that education has nothing to do with literacy, though the latter does act as an enabler to achieve the former.
All I am saying is that technology (sh/w)ould come in; but that would be in a later point in time. Once education itself falls into perspective, I think a lot of changes would follow. There are, as I previously mentioned, different schools of schools (nice, no?) today. At least, there are hints that would make me think such. Montessori, that I mentioned in my previous post, is one such.
I think GuruKool should find its way back - at least in rural areas, where vocation finds significant significance (what is it with me today?) over the ABCs of textbook-based learning...
Phew - it is difficult to talk coherently on this..!
@ anubhav (hope i got ur name wrong )
As i mentioned early on in the post , the commonality between all my posts are gonna be education and technology
This one was purely about examinations , i wrote it after i read about Board exams in newspaper
So reg ur comments ... will be answered in my post
Post a Comment