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People say examinations are not a true test of knowledge, yet they have remained the only test of knowledge in our schools. We find that people who excel in school sometimes struggle to cope in the real world, while some of these same individuals who did well in school continue to do very well in the real world.
It brings to our understanding the fact that success outside the schooling system does not only involve knowing and understanding what you are taught in your class and what you read from your books, but success in the real world involves exposure; the things you know outside your books are what will make you utilise your book knowledge to succeed.
They say a person's dreams are limited by their exposure; a child who does not know space exists does not dare to dream of becoming an astronaut; your exposure determines the extent of your success. That is why a person's environment has a huge impact on the kind of life they live.
A person living in a developed country has better growth opportunities compared to another who is living in a developing or undeveloped country. The former has better exposure to technology, while the latter has little to none.
Examinations help students know the limits of their knowledge and abilities, making them better understand themselves and which methods they learn best. It helps the student understand how best they retain information, which in turn helps them in the outside world in the future.
Another thing examinations help with is that a child who studies well and passes his examination is encouraged to study harder next time to keep a streak, while a student who fails is also encouraged as well to study harder in order to get better scores in future. An examination is more of a reward than a test of knowledge; it is a motivational tool that motivates students to study harder in order to get good results at the end of the school term.
I remember my first year in university. After my first result was out, I had a very poor result. It was then that I realised that I had only been doing the wrong thing and I needed to change my mode of study. I realised that my learning pattern was different from what I thought it was, and for me to improve my results, I needed to improve how I learn, how I read my books, and how I saw myself entirely.
Without examination, a lot of students will believe that they are learning or that they have understood what they are taught in class; examinations and tests give us the idea of whether or not we have learnt and understood what we were taught. Whether it is a test of memory or a test of knowledge, to me it means the same thing. You don’t test for what is not there; you test something because you know it is there and want to know to what extent such a thing exists.
If Hive rewards were given as a result rather than based on how it is being distributed, I believe that it will serve as a motivation to person improvement. Hive, the way I see it, is a community of people trying to help each other improve and not to kick the other to the ground. I write on Hive because I want to improve and make writing a hobby, but what is a hobby without rewards? So, I want the rewards as motivation, the same way I want to pass my examination as motivation to want me to do better in my next examination.
School provides a foundation, while exposure expands our horizon. The value of examination is the feedback, exposing the gap in our comprehension and forcing us to reevaluate our method of study. Examination is a structured incentive that rewards consistency with confidence and failure as a call for evaluation. The dismissal of exams as a test of knowledge misses the point that you cannot analyse or apply information without first retaining such information.
When looking at the translation of examination into real life, we see people who performed poorly in exams still excel wonderfully in leadership positions, innovation, as well as life in general. The ability to apply knowledge creatively, solve problems, and lead is rarely achieved through examinations and school tests and should not be the only criteria in judging a person's potential.
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