In Many Countries Formal Exams Are Used To Assess Students’ Ability And To Judge The Success Of Their Education
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Sample essay
In order to evaluate students’ abilities and to assess their academic achievement, formal exams are conducted in numerous nations. While formal exams boost a student’s confidence levels and ignite the competitive spirit in them, it only tests bookish knowledge and is a source of immense anxiety for many students.
There are a number of advantages to formal exams. Firstly, they boost the confidence levels of the students by enabling them to face stressful situations. A written exam is a source of anxiety for most students. Constant exposure to such exams, prepare students to face such situations. Also, the fact that there is a written exam at the end of the term encourages students to study systematically. If there is no exam, many students will simply not study. So, the written exam gives students an opportunity to know their level and also shows them new areas for improvement. Secondly, formal examinations arouse competition among the students. Since the whole class writes the exam, everyone tries to outperform others. These things further help in adulthood when they enter the work force.
However, in my opinion, in spite of the aforementioned pros, the cons of formal exams are even more significant. The main disadvantage is that these exams test a student’s performance on the day of exam. A lot of factors can affect it. Also, written exams encourage cramming. Students learn the answers by heart with the sole objective of scoring well in the exams. Hence, even if a student scores well in the exam, their understanding of the concept may be limited. Moreover, these exams are a source of immense anxiety for students. In fact, this anxiety itself can hurt their performance in exams. Worse still, sometimes the evaluation can be biased. Since it is not possible for the same teacher to evaluate all the answer sheets, there is no uniformity in the evaluation process.
To conclude, formal exams have their merits and demerits. They prepare the students to work hard and face competition. However, they are also stressful and biased evaluation makes them less effective. Hence, I do not believe that their merits outweigh the demerits.
See also
- Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary schools
- People should be at least 21 years old before they are allowed to drive a car
- Some people believe the purpose of education should be helping the individual to become useful for society
- In some countries, owning a home rather than renting one is considered important
- In many countries, formal exams are used to assess students ability and to judge the success of their education
- Some people say the main environmental problem of our time is the loss of particular species of plants and animals
