ESSAY EXAMINATIONS Maria Almisheva

As every other issue, school and college examinations have both advantages and drawbacks. It is true that they are convenient way of checking students’ knowledge and they have partly reliable results but here their advantages are over. Don’t you think that they prove only students’ good memory? Moreover, do you think all this stress during exams is worth?

On the one hand, exams are a useful tool for finding out if you can sort through a large body of information, figure out what is important, and explain why it is important. Exams challenge you to come up with key course ideas and put them in your own words or into exercises and to use the interpretive or analytical skills you know. Before all, they are convenient way for somebody to see your knowledge.

On the other hand, if you search in google.com under the topic “examinations” you will see a great number and variety of techniques, hints and handouts to give every student good strategy… for memorizing, not for learning. The schoolboy knows the date of his exam and until this date he only tries to memorize this which he sees or hears, or reads. Few months after the examination the same schoolboy doesn’t remember most of the things. Memorizing is not the target of any exam. Unfortunately, this is the result. Another point is that we all have heard about students who suffer from different illnesses as increased blood pressure, loss of appetite or weight, depression, etc. Frequently stress is the basic of these diseases. An American research shows that 37% of students suffer from stress. Aren’t the examinations the reason for this fact?

We know – there is vast variety of alternatives possible and reliable - for example, having exams only for certificates. This way students have the opportunity to choose if they want to go on this exam or not. Also, they choose their exams alone. There is nobody who is good at everything. One will go on maths exam, another – on literature exam.


Don’t you think exams cause more problems than they solve? They should be abolished because they are pointless. Let’s give our energy and time only for important things…

Maria Almisheva