Letter to BS: School examination system needs a complete overhaul

The marks-centred examination system takes into account only rudimentary understanding of the subjects and doesn't produce questioning minds

Our examination system encourages and lays undue emphasis on rote learning among the students, besides putting enormous stress on their physical, mental and emotional health. It is one of the glaring ills plaguing our education system for long. Marks scored in board exams of Class X and XII cannot qualify to be a true indicator of academic achievements of our students as the exams hardly assess or test their conceptual understanding of the subjects. That instances of students ending their lives unable to cope with stress associated with board exams and when the exam results go awry have been on the rise is another poor commentary on our existing examination system. Academic excellence has a broader meaning and board exams are hardly a yardstick to measure the same. The marks-centred examination system, which takes into account only rudimentary understanding of the subjects and doesn’t produce questioning minds, needs a complete overhaul.

M Jeyaram  Tamil Nadu

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