Number of words: 605 In the ancients there was the widespread belief that one’s biological and mental makeup decided man’s capacity for education. Students were chosen on the basis of heredity and placed in slots for study according to their inborn capacities. The teacher was not a paid servant of the state or society. It … Read more

Number of words: 207 Examinations create class consciousness. They are unnecessary for the rich. The power or affluence of the parents will see to it that their wards, no matter how unequal to the job of passing they happen to be, are well placed in life. The security of the parents will provide the counterpoint … Read more

Number of words: 269 The approach in non-physical sciences should be less forbidding. It should rely less upon the applications of validity. It should rely more upon evidence that is derived from observation: questionnaires, interviews, informal conversations, diaries and documents. In such evaluations, oddities and side effects may prove particularly illuminating. It may not have … Read more

Number of words: 294 Creativity has never been looked at kindly by institutions or governments because creativity implies an independence of thoughts and actions that can often prove embarrassing to the status quo. The examination thus became the proper medium to ensure that all this is channelized through the textbook. That the opinions expressed in … Read more

Number of words: 113 The examination, which forms the basis of the Chinese system of education in the past, was a build up of essays in an ascending order with competition that excluded all but the best. It was justified on the grounds that it provided the means by which Confucianism and traditionalism, to their … Read more

Number of words: 549 Competition has become a whipping boy for education in India. In their enthusiasm to strengthen gentle values like kindness and concern, educationists are apt to turn a blind eye to any good that competition might suggest. And so cooperation is paraded almost to the exclusion of competition. The reason preferred for … Read more

Number of words: 376 The examination is a child of the industrial age. A democratic government must make note of this. Earlier heredity claimed its rewards. If one was born into patronage, he was privileged enough to claim the plums of office. It was only when industrialisation was born, that efficiency took over from privilege. … Read more