On open book examination

It is to start on a happy note that one of the premier educational bodies, Central Board of Secondary Education is planning to bring another revolutionary change in the education system of the country. The news regarding implementation of open book system in class X and class XII board examination seems to be very exciting to all of us. This system is followed in some of the western countries and also individual school boards and universities in some countries. This gives an access to the books when the students are writing their examination.   But what CBSE proposes to do is to let students know the topics and the pattern of the question papers well in advance so that they can thoroughly learn the topics.   The difference in the question paper is proposed to be in terms of the quality of the questions. CBSE thinks and many of us agree, that today’s question papers and the examination system promote rote learning and not the real creative learning by the children. This seems to be a welcome step but again when given a serious thought we find as if we are focusing too much on examination than the process of teaching and learning.  I have written earlier also that evaluation/examination is important but most important is the learning taking place in and outside the class.  So what many of us feel is that more emphasis should be given on innovative curriculum and teaching-learning process. For this the important tool in the hands of CBSE is proper training of teachers and the minimum facilities available in the schools which enhance and motivate the learning of children.  The words higher order thinking skills (HOTS) etc, impress everyone but everyone must understand the real meaning of these words.  Creative thinking is the key to the success of the individual at school level and also later on in life. But how much attention is paid to develop this skill right from the beginning of schooling of the children.  The recent report that many of the engineering graduates are not able to write even a proper application of any kind; gives the real picture of our education system.  This is not true only for engineering graduates but applies across the board.  That is the reason I always think that such an innovative educational board should have a wing which works on innovative teaching learning process and curriculum development as well.  This should be done based on the local requirement of our nation and not necessarily to be borrowed from other countries. Every time a change is implemented in our education system it is usually felt as this has also been taken or borrowed from the education system of other countries.  If this kind of impression is created in the minds of people, that the system which is responsible for the creative and high order thinking in the children of the country, lacks the creativity itself then no change will impact the minds of the people.  In this Central Board of Secondary Education alone cannot do much because the teachers who are appointed to implement these changes are taught and trained in universities. The syllabus at graduation and post graduation level including the training programmes like B.Ed. and M.Ed. should be revamped in such a manner that the prospective teachers are well aware and trained about the real teaching learning process which will enable children to actually learn and not to rote learn.  Unfortunately, this side has been given the least attention by the responsible people. The college and university education system must undergo a change at the earliest. It has been observed that the candidates who apply for the post of a teacher in a school, may have first class first in their graduation and post graduation but are not able to explain very simple concepts of their subject in which they have got the masters degree. I remember one person who has done doctorate in Physics and has a specialization in electronics at master’s level in Physics, could not tell the full form of IC (Integrated Circuit). Not only this, when he was asked to find the resistors from among the number of items lying in a box which contained the capacitors, transistors and other electronic gadgets, he could not identify the same. This shows the kind of learning which had been done by him while he was in the school and university. This is not an isolated case, but there are a number of probable teachers who would be in the same condition.  That is why I assert this, time and again that the syllabus and teaching learning in and outside the classroom should be such that the students have a practical experience in the real sense and not only the theoretical knowledge of the concept.  This needs proper infrastructure in the school in terms of space and laboratories etc., the syllabus should be such that it provides enough scope to the students and the teachers to go beyond the boundaries of the textbook. But the problem is that in most of the cases the teachers struggle to complete the syllabus and in this process the concept of ‘creative thinking’ and ‘learning by doing’ is lost somewhere.

The other problem is that we have misinterpreted the word ‘failure’ and it is conveyed in a similar manner to our students.  Failing is not always bad because it is the stepping stone to success and this makes us to perform in a different way. I remember, when some children would come to me to get one or the other problem solved by me, then my first reaction would be to ask them, where and how did they try to solve that problem. My advice at the same time to them used to be to try to solve it themselves three four times and then only come to me for the solution. I never solved the problem myself but made the children to get the solution themselves. This gave a lot of confidence to the children that they were able to solve that difficult problem on their own and not necessarily the teacher. This way they were able to think creatively and this learning was almost forever. 

I would like to reiterate here that I had written in the previous article.  It was regarding the learning of simple scientific concepts by the children with the help of toys made by them from the waste material which can be made available to them at home and the school as well.  The costly toys may not be of much use because if these are broken the parents may not like it, but the cheap toys made by the children themselves will help them in many ways. Even if these are broken they can be made once again without spending much money.

So, in the end, I would like to suggest that innovation in examination and evaluation system is important but the transaction of curriculum is equally important if not more important. So, universities and school educational boards must work in tandem for the betterment of the overall learning of the students so that many of them can prove to be role models for the students when they become the teachers in schools or universities because the children are influenced the most by their teachers.