RECENT interventions in the education system of Pakistan have focused on curriculum revision, better textbooks and emphasis on teacher education to raise quality of the educational provision. However, the apex of quality control — examinations — is still a far cry from what it actually should be.
At independence in 1947, the universities of Punjab and Sindh continued to administer public examinations modelled on the English and Welsh examinations instituted during colonial rule. The first Board of Secondary Education was established in 1950 at Karachi to set examinations for matriculation and Higher Secondary Certificate. By 1995, the numbers of these boards had increased to nearly 30 although matching quality across these Boards was not a priority. To date, the reality is that annual examinations continue to be held at all levels of the system based on the old pattern of question papers encouraging rote learning and re-gurgitation of material learnt.
Ages ago, examinations were the culmination of knowledge acquisition, a step that challenged the intellectual capacity of a student. At the university level, many books had been read, analysed and quotable quotes memorized to take an examination. The putting down of these thoughts on paper to answer a question concerning a typical topic required an expertise in debate, discussion and independent thinking. The writing itself had to be fluent and focused with clarity and elaboration of ideas that led to a logical conclusion.
The candidate was conversant with paragraphing, topic sentences, illustrative examples and amplifying sentences for easy comprehension by the examiner. The “quality” spoke for itself. It is a different story today and a horrific picture comes to mind when the word “examination” is heard or used in our country. Grades, numbers, positions and filling up pages and pages of writing to impress the examiner is the image that comes to mind.
Nevertheless, “raising the quality of education” was the first reason given in Britain to institute an examination system in the mid 19th century.
The candidates for the viva voce or oral examinations were becoming too many to be handled at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The alternative was to have written examinations and in 1828, question papers were printed for the first time in Britain for university students. The late 18th and early 19th century saw a concerted attempt to widen the circle of formal schooling in Britain and it was not long before examinations had to be set to “raise standards of schools” across the board.
Since then examinations have become the norm and testing has taken a variety of forms. Now examinations on a large scale are used for securing equitable treatment for large populations. Merit based examinations were the hallmark of the Chinese who used them to create a knowledgeable and capable bureaucracy. From there the merit based examination system was applied in Britain where the Civil Service Examinations began to be held to produce a bureaucracy to run its colonies.
Pakistan still has the CSS examination system to select the best on merit for its bureaucracy. However, the earlier aura of these examinations has faded. The market abounds with solved papers and examination guides to lure the unsuspecting into taking the examination using short cut measures. The focus of the examination is no longer a widely-read individual conversant with many facets of knowledge but an individual exposed to a constricted curriculum to be run through and tested on. This illness plagues the FA/FSc, BA/BSc and MA/MSc examinations as well.
The numerous Examination Guides and Solved Question Papers are used by candidates to prepare for these examinations in less than a couple of months. No wonder Pakistani Degrees are not accepted by universities abroad. Recent reforms by the Higher Education Commission are steps in the right direction for a semester-based system but, again, uniformity is the missing element. The Annual Examination System is still an ongoing proposition for many who are acquiring these sub standard degrees. The decision to phase out the annual system once and for all should have been taken two years back when the four-year degree was instituted.
The question is whether examinations in Pakistan is to be an end in themselves or a means to an end. For the moment the end is acquiring a degree or gaining a good grade at all cost. The high stakes in examinations is taking its toll on lowering the standard of education by dependence on guides, solved papers and the tuition culture. Examinations, if well set, are supposed to tap the “deep” rather than “surface” learning of students.
Furthermore, questions which require thinking rather than rote learning need to be an integral part of the testing process. For the moment, the general perception is that even though pedagogy inculcates thinking patterns, the examination only tests a “regurgitation” of knowledge. The motivation of teachers and students to acquire higher order thinking skills becomes subservient to the demands of our present system of examinations. Examinations need to be the means to an end -- a quality education system.
Assessment is the current word in use for examinations. Assessment means to evaluate or measure and examine means to test or analyse in detail. The subtle shift in meaning between the two should tell us the way forward for 21st century parameters. Meritocracy is no longer the norm or use for examinations. The utility now is the attempt to measure a student's ability in internalizing information and then being able to apply it.
Consequently, the questions have to be crafted in such a way that the key point of information is picked up, understood by the pupil and applied in the correct fashion or more innovatively in other ways. Both measures should challenge the student's ability across a wide range of responses to the question posed. Thus, the whole system of assessment catering to higher order thinking is applied from lower grades to college and university level. Slowly but surely, children learn to use these thinking skills from a young age till they become almost a habit at higher levels. However, if at matriculation these skills are not assessed and appear at college level, the mindset is very difficult to change.
Despite the recent changes being made to improve the education system in Pakistan, little heed is being paid to the examination system. Presently, the examination system is still based on the old pattern set decades ago. Some fiddling here and there has taken place but by and large, the old system of examination exists. To quote from Education and the State, a book compiled on the Education System of Pakistan at the celebration of Pakistan's 50th birthday, the future looks alarming to say the least if quality education is not uplifted and accessed by the masses.
“While the last 50 years have seen economic development and improvement in general living standards, institutional failure in other key areas has shaken the nation's confidence in its future. Because the future lies largely upon educating the generations to come, no failure should be more alarming or dangerous than the failure to educate adequately. It is a terrifying thought that, if the present education system remains unchanged, the generations to come will be largely uneducated or, worse, miseducated. A rapidly growing populace, whose majority lacks essential survival skills needed in the modern world, fed upon prejudice and bigotry, and without a sense of civic responsibility, is a nightmare to contemplate.”
Twelve years on, this prophecy has already become a reality when Pakistan presently faces the deadly challenge of extreme terrorism on its soil due to ignorance, poverty and failure to educate qualitatively. If, in the up gradation of the education system, examinations are catered to first, the motivation factor will be a hundred fold towards accepting change. The teachers will use the new and current pedagogical patterns for the learning of the students to cater to the examinations. The underlying compulsive factor will remain the same but the future will be secured as the qualitative shift to a changed system is assured.
The writer is an educational consultant based in Lahore.