Scrapping board exams is silly

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal’s proposal to make the class X board examination optional so as to relieve students of the stress they face is ludicrous. It seems Mr Sibal has sought lessons from Kerala Education Minister MA Baby who has slackened the evaluation system in the State by giving no significance to marks or grades.

It is paradoxical that almost 100 per cent of the class X and XII students in Kerala pass the board examinations but only a fraction appearing for medical and engineering entrance examinations clear them. This clearly suggests that having no stress to deal with at the school level when followed by a sudden squall of competition leaves students incapable of coping with the pressure of getting into a good college. Suicide among students who fail to secure the desired rank in entrance examinations is a bleak reminder of Kerala’s faulty education system. The fact that Mr Sibal is proposing to emulate this system and apply it across the country is worrisome.

A little competition and stress is needed to prepare students for the big bad world. Abandoning examinations is no solution. It is not examinations but parental pressure that has a negative effect on the psyche of students.

If the authorities want to put an end to examination-induced stress, then all examinations need to be scrapped. Stress for a school student is the same as that for a college student. Thus, we should distinguish between good stress and bad stress. While the good stress that examinations cause keeps individuals alert, bad stress destroys their peace of mind.

It is time that parents and teachers realise that fixing unrealistic targets, making undue comparisons with other children, etc, are actually the main factors responsible for the undue stress faced by students. Moreover, they need to play a constructive role in helping students manage examination-related stress and make them feel that an examination is just another test in life.

At the same time it is the Government’s job to ensure the free and fair conduct of examinations. For instance, it is praiseworthy that the Central Board of Secondary Education gives extra time to students appearing for its examinations to study the question paper. The Government, too, must work on similar lines to reform the education system. Big changes can wait.

KA Solaman

South Asean Media Net, A news and views website
Wednesday July 1, 2009
Source : The Pioneer