Indeed examinations are regarded by the teachers and other prominent intellectuals as a test of merit .Students prepare for the examinations, days and months in advance. The day of the examination is always awaited with a mixed feeling. There is a fear of facing a tough paper and there is also a sense of relief to know that once the papers are over, there can be enough time to play and enjoy. Examinations are a bug-bear. They are like electric shocks for most students.
Children have all sorts of nightmares before the preparation of an examination. They encourage cramming .Unintelligent cramming leads to stunting of the thinking power. They are a farce. The examinees themselves are not sure how to mark the papers .The outstanding advantage of examinations is that the teacher as well as the student tend to be industrious .Examinations inspire them to work hard and score maximum marks in each subject. The teacher and students consider examinations as their only goal. They even compete with other classes. This means that without examinations, the teacher as well as the student would tend to become idle. After the result, the meritorious student is easily known by the teacher or principal. Students are not to be found at the cinema houses, restaurant and other places of entertainment during the examination days. If there were no examinations, the merits of various students could not be judged, nor would the majority of students take any interest as it is only the fear of examinations that makes students work. They know that if they keep on neglecting books, they will be exposed on examination days.
Now do examinations really test an individual? A student may memorize certain portions of the text and if a question is set from the portions he has prepared, he will no doubt secure good marks, while another student, brighter and more intelligent than the first, may not show good results because he did not especially