Examination: A Boost or Deter?

EXAMINATION: A BOOST OR DETER?

 He who thinks he stand should watch it lest he falls. For an unexamined life is not worth living. We don’t live for the fun of it but to make a difference in all that we do. To know whether we are right or wrong we need at all times to x-ray our life in order to determine our fate. The only way or means through which this can be done is tagged examination.

Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to God Lam.3:40. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. 2 Cor.13:5 its essence is to ascertain where precisely we stand. Therefore examination puts us in the right frame of mind and gives us the right stand.

What is examination and why do we need to examine ourselves? These pertinent questions will help focus our discussion. Examination according to Encarta dictionary is an inspection that is the process of looking at and considering something carefully with the idea of learning something. But the Business dictionary sees examination as “In general, non-destructive inspection, investigation, or testing of materials, products, or services to determine their conformation to specifications or requirements usually without special laboratory equipment or procedures. It may include sensual investigation, (auditory, visual), tactual, olfactory, gustatory) or simple manipulation or measurement.

These standards are good to an extent but the other way round when they are followed rigidly the expected results are denied. As Walter Jessup said, “In our attempt to conform to measurable ‘standards’, we have pointed toward the husks of the thing. We have built up a network of administrative techniques that are simple to observe and easy to check, but it is more and more evident that we can conform to these externals and still miss the essential element in an educational undertaking.

In like manner, Mr. K.B. Asante observed that “the overemphasis on examination is partly to be blame for the country educational problems. He said the dictatorial nature of examinations in Ghana’s schools de-emphasized the critical element of education-acquiring knowledge to be able to solve problems in the society.

We are truly repositioned through it because it opens our mind and broaden our horizon. Its aim is to make us better citizens and responsible to ourselves and the society at large. These of course are the practical dividends we are supposed to enjoy where and when examination is measurable in its right form and not overstretched.