QUESTION

The education system in Kenya should be examination oriented. Discuss.

This essay describes drawbacks and the perceived benefits of an examination oriented
education system. As such, this essay explores the arguments and key assumptions
underlying this pedagogical approach as well as the negative influences exam -oriented
education systems.

An exam-centric education assigns students aptitude based only on test scores,

oftentimes leading to the marginalization, if not outright disregard, of lower
performing students. In such a system, scores, not people, define worth. Parents and
teachers consider scores to be the only evaluating criteria for the students.

It has been argued that, tests are one of the ways of evaluating learning and teaching
efficacy. Testing exists to “(1) create or reinforce the identity of the state, (2) increase
the sense of belonging to the state, (3) select and allocate individuals to roles or tasks
that benefit the collective, and (4) introduce hyper -accountability to ensure uniformity
and standardization” (Glenn Fulcher, 2009).

In the field of education, there is consensus that the testing process has an influence on
both teaching and learning, which is termed “wash back” in language education
(Alderson & Wall, 1993, Qi Luxia, 2007).

This influence may be positive and negative impact depending on the context of the
test.

Benefits of an examination oriented education system

In an examination-oriented education system, there is a chance that the joy of being a

young kid will not be able to be enjoyed fully by the young generation. Although it
may take a bit of a joy out of a student, it may be worth the sacrifices. The following
points can be put into considerations.

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 With proper guidance, students and teachers can both gain huge benefit from the
system. Since the end goal is to excel during the examination, this will give a sense of
direction for both parties. Students will be more focused in their studi es and this will
make teaching easier for the educators.

The situation in a class or school will be a lot calmer if the students are fully
able to understand why there are occupying a seat in a class. The time in a class will be
fully utilized for learning purposes, not giving room for improper behaviour.

The students will also be more motivated in such examination -oriented system.
The reward awaits them at the end of the term or year and this will create healthy
competition among classmates. The students will work harder to improve themselves
and the teachers can try to find a way so each student will be working together to work
for success as one unit.

The whole point of studying is gaining knowledge. In a situation where

knowledge is available without any need to learn them by heart, students are bound to
take it for granted. With the slight motivation to get good grades during tests, students
will have to make an effort therefore, appreciate the learning process and knowledge
more. With good grades, students will be saved from the trouble of suffering during
their adult life. Good grades will open more opportunities to the students for more
possibilities whether to get into higher learning institutions or get a better job.

Proper implementation of examination-oriented education will benefit the

students, teachers and even the parents. The clear direction in such education system
helps everyone to focus on a specific target. With this, it will promote collaboration
between all the parties, making it as a collective effort.

To sum it up, Examination-oriented education system may have a noble aim. However,
the implementation should be done carefully so it will not affect the students.
Everyone should understand that every individual is unique; some may excel
academically while others can rely on hands-on expertise.

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Drawbacks of an examination oriented education system

The following are the disadvantages of an exam oriented education system.

Public exams have bred a lucrative 'shadow education' indu stry through
numerous tutorial schools where students mainly learn exam tips rather than critical
thinking and see education merely as preparation for a career.

Overcome by exhaustion from endless homework assignments and continuous

assessments, many students have lost interest in matters outside their school subjects.
Few teenagers question the reasons for our huge wealth gap; even fewer consider
themselves as being able to bring some positive changes to our society.

Exam-oriented education centers around tests and the demand of getting an

entry to the high schools and universities. High schools teachers teach often
completely ignore a student’s creativity or ability to reason abst ractly.

An exam-oriented education system not only increases a students' burden but also
restricts a student’s ability to learn using techniques that a particular student finds
most effective. A pile of ten or more books on the desk is a common sight insid e
school classrooms in Kenya, half of which are exercise books, which elucidates the
pressure to pass the college entrance examination.

The result of this exam-oriented education is a large number of weary students

with inadequate psychological development, repressed personality and self -hatred, and
a general lack in the development of other abilities.

An imperfect exam system that assesses performance through a single, evaluation

method based on a formalist content structure, the study period for which is not too
unified and lacks an utilitarian approach, thereby, insufficient to test completely a
students' genuine abilities and mere proxies regarding students’ potential aptitude.

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 The students' learning attitude and learning objective are unclear. The majority
students understand why they’re learning outside of taking a test. This creates anxiety
and inefficiency, causing tests to become an extremely painful experience.

Exam organization is not a rigorous process and reduces the authenticity of the
results greatly. This also influences the credibility of the exam and affects a student's
enthusiasm. The situation demands “we need to first focus on how teachers make sense
of the mandates and policies because there will be no education reforms until after
teachers interpret the policies and make decisions based on their beliefs about the new
demands" (Fullan, 1996, p.12).

Cheating becomes a common phenomenon schools. Students are over-burdened

with homework on a daily basis that exceeds their normal capacities to memorize,
oftentimes allowing students to recite knowledge, but lack the intellectual depth to
synthesize or appreciate abstract concepts. Thus, to pass exams, they turn to cheating,
a common thing in secondary schools, universities and in society as a whole. Many
educators say the culture of cheating takes root in high school, where the competition
for slots in the country's best colleges is unrelenting and high marks on standardized
tests are the most important criterion for admission.

Ghost-written essays and test questions can be bought. So, too, can a hired gun
test taker who will assume the student's identity fo r the grueling two-day college
entrance exam. (Andrew Jacobs, 2010) There are so many high school students
cheating because of the nature of the competitive educational system that demands
high test scores above everything else. Students worry about l ow performance, so
attempt to mitigate the risk of failed testing by cheating on examinations. Secondly,
some students want to pass the exam without studying.

In both the cases, the psychological pressure caused by evaluation process that
constitute the primary drawbacks of exam-oriented education.

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 Too many tests make students get no time to digest knowledge, yet to escape the
punishments and score as high as the rest, they choose to cheat. One success drives
another, even when it involves cheating.

Asked if they have any vision for society, most students will simply shrug and display
a strong sense of aloofness or helplessness. Most seem to think that inequality and
injustice are here to stay. There is nothing they can change. They can only try their
best to fit in and become one of the elite in society.

Although kids may appear to be jumping and laughing all day, they also face the
threat of stress. This can come from many sources be it family issues, bullying issues
or even education system. An examination-oriented education system can bring
unneeded stress with improper implementation.

Grades are all that matters in an examination-oriented education system. Get a

high grade and you get the affection from the teachers while other students gawk at
you in awe. Low grades invite low-self esteem and isolation. This is because the
students are bound to be highly competitive and subconsciously, they create caste
among their friends. Those who have low grades are seen as unworthy to fit into their
circle of friends.

Students are forced to know and learn everything their study by heart in order to
get good grades during examination. This can be easy for some while it can be very
difficult for others, especially those who are hands -on type of people. Inability to
perform may only result in embarrassment although being shunned by other friends
will bring harsher impact to the students' lives.

A student will have to invest a lot of his or her time if a student wants to excel in
studies. They will lose their childhood in the process, missing the chance to mix
around with their peers. This can hamper their social skills learning skill, a skill that is
bound to be important throughout their lives.

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 Exam-centric education causes extreme stress for students because tests are
regarded as a means to prove their worth. This is a filtering process that selects a few
for the higher educations. On a broader sense, exam -centric means a system that
controls what students do and do not know. Thus, it sometimes manifests as an
oppressive force to one’s academic and social lives. Such education that holds
examinations as its core component downplays the ultimate purpose of education:
critical thinking.

Once the aim is set to get higher grades in tests, other activities will have to be
sacrificed. Teachers are bound to cut extra-curricular activities such as sports and also
discourage creative activities so that students can study longer. This should not happen
because the students have worked hard in the class and studying so they sh ould be
allowed to take part in such activities as an outlet to release stress.

Research has shown that examination oriented teaching is becoming a matter of global
concern In some countries such as Romania, Egypt, India and other Asian countries where
education is prized, there appears to be a rising concern on the effects of examination oriented
teaching in their education systems .

In reference to China’s education system, [14] points out that, when test scores becomes the goal
rather than self-regulated learning, students invest disproportionate value and effort in
examinations. The most fundamental problem with exam–oriented education system is that
examination distorts students’ motivation and learning; by over emphasizing the importance of
the scores as outcomes and measures of students’ abilities [14]. Most students may tend to rely
on private tutors for everything including homework and exam tips. [5] argues Kenya like many
3rd world countries suffer from a certificate syndrome which is a result of an adopted education
system. Due to this, there has been a rising demand to make examinations more relevant to
Kenya’s needs and the learners’ environment.

[1] Puts it that in Kenya, the perception of efficiency in education is through an

examination index. This is because according to many an efficient school is that whose learners
perform academically.

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[10] posits that in Kenya examinations generally, determine people’s future, in that those who
pass are assured of joining good secondary schools and proceed to pursue prestigious courses at
the university. Those who fail feel useless and this affects their self- esteem. They believe
nothing good can come out of their efforts. In fact suicide cases have been reported in Kenya
resulting from a failure to pass in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).

Findings of a task force on the Framework for Education and Training [12] indicates that the
current education system is examination oriented as it selects students for higher education and
often exclude the majority, depicting them as failures.

It also develops wrong attitudes and divides the nation into white-collar workers and labourers,
leaving little room for technical education. [11] explains that grades at whatever level are
indicators of an individual’s academic ability and those who do well are held in high esteem by
teachers, pupils, parents and the public at large. For this reason teachers and parents will do
anything at their disposal to ensure good grades are attained, thus putting the teachers and
students in Kenyan primary and secondary schools under great pressure to produce good results.

The importance laid on grades has forced some head teachers into using very
unscrupulous methods such as registering weak candidates in other schools or forcing them to
repeat a class. Educational officers also expect teachers to attain good result and in turn the
teachers and parents push the learners to optimum ability; especially those in examination
classes. For instance during the 2009 Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Conference
held in Mombasa education officials speakers, warned head teachers of dire consequences unless
they attained satisfactory results in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) [8]. This
concern is also brought out by [1] who observed that parents are indifferent to school curriculum,
but are concerned with the steps schools and teachers take to improve performance in
examinations. In addition, the Ministry of Education and the politicians send direct or indirect
signals to schools that children must pass examinations as a sign of a school’s efficiency or
quality.

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 [10] explains that if the goal is high grades in tests, other activities will have to be
sacrificed. Teachers are bound to cut on extracurricular activities such as sports or discourage
creative activities so that the students can study longer. They then concentrate on aspects that are
to be examined and skip core values.

[4] posits that undue emphasis laid on examinations, undermines effective learner assessment.
The school overburdens learners with frequent continuous assessment, extra tuition, remedial
teachings and loads of assignment. Some learners are enrolled for private tuition by parents over
the weekend and holidays.

[8] expresses concern in that examination classes are taken through mock past papers,
from districts that logged excellent performance in KCSE, in cramming lessons for the sake of
passing the exam. Instead of learning for understanding, learners are taken through theoretical
knowledge and skills without any time to assimilate and apply what they learn. Practical
instructions receive insufficient emphasis, and students have little opportunity to develop
technical competencies and problem solving experiences.

Data results suggest that many of the method used to teach may deny learner an
opportunity to actively experience a learning process. Learning is mainly teacher centred.
Findings of the study indicate that knowledge is brought to learners mainly through explanation,
teachers dictating note to students, discussion of past papers among students and students
copying note from textbooks. This approach to learning may make learning boring, thus,
creating a negative attitude towards learning. As a result learners may not achieve their
academic aspiration

This means that students are not given time to assimilate, internalize and apply what they
learn. Learning therefore is reduced to an activity of passing examinations. Due to this Kenyans
secondary school learners may be graduating with a lack of practical skills and desired values
and attitudes.

Additionally, students spend much time in academics, leaving them with little or no time to build
social skills away from books. Worse still, the students rely on teachers wholly to provide
knowledge because learning is basically teacher centred.

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 The students are drilled through past examination papers and assessment tests for them to
reproduce the acquired knowledge during national examinations. This means that the major task
of the teacher is to enable students acquire a good grade at the expense of imparting desired
knowledge, skills, values and attitudes. Hence, the learners become passive recipients of
knowledge as they only listen to the teacher, or take notes without reading widely for more
knowledge beyond what is brought to them by their teachers. Therefore, learners may not realize
their academic aspiration when teachers fail to provide an appropriate learning environment
where students are empowered to take control of their own learning.

Students may not be taken through a holistic educational experience to enable them understand
their abilities to realize their academic aspirations because of over-concentration on theoretical
knowledge and skills.

In an examination oriented education system practical instructions receive insufficient

emphasis, as indicated by responses on learning method. As a result students may have little
opportunity to develop technical competencies and problem solving experiences [8].

Put on a scale of balance, the drawbacks of an exam oriented education system outweigh
the benefits. It is therefore crystal clear that, examination oriented education system may not
help school students to achieve their academic aspirations.

This is because teachers concentrate on the cognitive domain; equipping learners with
knowledge and theoretical skills through examination oriented teaching which would enable
them pass examinations instead of providing a holistic educational experience. As such the
education system in Kenya should not be examination oriented.

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