School examinations

Too many exams but no report cards

Of late there has been a great deal of discussion on improving the civil service including the education system. The government has been so generous to drastically increase the salary of civil servants. There has been all round applause for the pay hike although some have questioned whether the quantum of increase is justified for the quality of service they provide.

As an example, let us take a look at our school system, which we all agree is too examination orientated. We have too many exams in a year – the monthly, formative, term and end of the year examinations. Then of course there are the major public examinations, the UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM and not to forget their trial and pre-trial examinations as well.

There is no doubt these are good and the teachers should be commended for the great pains they take to prepare not only the questions but to prepare the students for these examinations as well.

What is disturbing is that despite the numerous examinations to which our children are subjected, their results are never revealed. We are already into the second semester of 2007 but we are yet to get the report books for any of the examinainations.After almost seven months into the year, as parents we are unaware of the performance and progress of our children in schools.

The end of term and especially the end of the year examinations are held during the last 2-3 weeks before the long holidays but the results are never announced and completely forgotten when the school reopens after the holidays. To make matters worst, even the question papers and answers sheets are not given as they are treated as secret documents.

Children as they are, are only too happy to enjoy their holidays, despite having done poorly in their examination, knowing their parents will never know the results to reprimand them. If only the results are known before the holidays, it would facilitate the parents to ensure their children brush up on their areas of weakness. This would enable the students to be better prepared to start the new term.

There is an urgent need for our teachers to re-look at their attitude to school examinations. Despite their heavy work load, teachers must give priority to marking examination papers so as to provide the results without delay.

Examinations are there to gauge the strength and weakness of the students. It provides an opportunity for them to identify their areas of weakness and rectify them before the final examinations. If the results are not revealed and if they are denied access to the question papers and answer sheets how can they conduct a meaningful analysis of their performance in the examination?

Dr.Chris Anthony