"Examination"..!!
The most terrifying period for any student in the world..
Trembling hands, pounding heart, sleepless nights are all side-effects of this..
This is the time when all the budding Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, Scientists..everyone gets indulged in something they hate the most- studying(i refer to 95% of the total student population)..
In India, 'examination' has been considered as the 2nd most feared thing after death..
Well.. With the kind of education system we have, developing a phobia for exams cannot be ridiculed..
The history of examinations in India dates back to the Ramayana period when Lord Rama and his brothers had to undergo tests..
However the printed form was introduced in 1818 at Schrewsburg, London..
With the introduction of many new subjects in the 2nd and 3rd quadrant of the 19th century, examinations got tougher to crack and lost their radical purpose- to test the thinking capability and knowledge of an individual..
With a drastic increase in the number of students appearing, examinations became a method of elimination..
And to pass the examination, students began to get into cheap tactics such as 'copying'..
This gave birth to the "number game" .. marks.. percentages.. jobs.. money..
Undoubtedly, this was a reason of great concern..
Few thought that ending their life could be a great way to get rid of this misery..
Statistics reveal that 6500(average between 2001 & 2010) students commit suicide every year in India due to poor academic performances and fear of not meeting their parents' expectations..
"Colleges are like old-age homes, except for the fact that more people die in colleges"
Several nations have brought about reforms in their education system..
Needless to say, Indian ministers were too lazy(or busy) to do anything of this sort..(managing huge amounts of black money is never an easy job either)..
"Exams are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer"..
This quote by Charles Caleb Colton, perfectly matches the current examination scenario in India...
In the coming years, we can only hope that the examination system changes for the betterment of students..