Invented by Henry Fishchel, school examinations are a burden of stress and anxiety on students. These examinations do not test intelligence but simply test the ability to memorize and store information. These frightful pieces of paper create bitter competition and rivalry among peers, break friendships, and divide students based on marks.
Marks, “they are just numbers”, we have often heard. Yet, they manage to shatter the morale of students.
School examinations require students to prepare for subjects in which they have no interest. They compel them to burn the midnight oil on topics they do not wish to pursue afterwards. Due to their disinterest and dislike for the subject, students tend to perform badly in them and do not meet their expectations. This, in turn, lowers their average score. Should this reflect their skills as a student? Just because of their weakness in this area should their application not be considered and thoughtlessly rejected by taking one glance at their average score? Such fear results in increased hatred towards that topic and students get further pressured to perform well.
Moreover, such examinations inevitably exert immense pressure and anxiety on students. Classmates feel ashamed if they have received lesser scores as compared to their friends. They become shy, and this effect continues to increase over time, leading to loneliness and depression. People begin to feel excluded. Furthermore, students also get mocked by each other based on their results. This brews feelings of jealousy and hatred. Students practice unfair and wrong means to receive better results. Such methods may include bullying, cheating, sabotaging and sundry. Even the top-performing students are under pressure to retain their top spot. They fear the loss of this spot due to remarks and jokes from others. This, in turn, causes even the best of students to crack under performance pressure due to the fear of failure.
Pressure received from parents also affects students to a great extent. They fear their parents’ reaction and study only to please their parents. They prepare for exams as if they are compelled to do so. However, in reality, the basic idea of exams should be to increase one's knowledge and unlock their potential. They should enjoy what they study. Their preparation should be with a view to educate themselves and improve their results. Their goal should be to perform better than the previous time and aspire to achieve the best version of themselves.
Instead of school examinations, intelligence quotient (IQ) tests should be conducted. These foster the ability to think. They test rational thinking, logical application, and critical thinking. These skills are the ones useful in real life and open up a students’ mind, giving them the ability to view situations from multiple perspectives. It helps them to critically analyze scenarios and find smart solutions. In fact, these are the instruments required to produce the music of solutions in today's fast-moving modern world. Sadly, school examinations fail to test one's skill in playing these instruments.
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