EXAM FEVER

Examinations! The very word sends  waves of sock and fear in the minds of the students. They pose a terrible ordeal before the prospective examinees and strike their heart with awe. Each and every child longs for a real escape from the tyranny of this merciless and fierce demon. With the thought of examinations, a child can not feel free and study with a feeling of sickness. As the fatal day  advances, his fear increases and he forgets his food. Jesus Christ once prayed to God rightly that he could be saved from examination, but He was put up to the test quite often. Students find themselves in a similar predicament. They pray to be saved from the serious curse of examinations which descend like ghost over them. The ghost of examinations devour them, drain their vitality and strength, and reduce them to mere skeletons. The examination-fever, really causes the students much physical and mental torture. Examinations are necessary in schools  in order to test the efficiency of the candidates. All will agree that there must be some visible proof that a student is fit to be promoted to a higher class. But our modern examination system is highly defective. It is artificial, illogical and mechanical. There is no emphasis on the creative impulse or individual initiative of the students. It is a test of memory, not of knowledge. The essay type questions require parrot like cramming and pouring out. In the examination hall, a child’s state is no better. With the question paper in his hand, he feels as if he has just received his death sentence. He does not remember a bit of what he has studied. His mind becomes blank and he is confused how or where to begin. He wonders like Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister and the  great hero of World War II, why the examiner is always interested in exposing his ignorance and not in infusing  confidence. But inspite of all these defects,  examinations are indispensable. There is no better alternative to it. So, the system of examination must exist, but in a reformed form. These constructive criticisms can make it better.