In most schools and colleges the examination is used as a chief means of deciding whether a student succeeds or fails in mastering a particular subject。 Although it does the job quite efficiently， its side effects are also enormous。
The most undesirable effect is that examinations encourage bad study habits。 As the examination score is the only criterion for his academic performance， a student is driven to memorize mechanically rather than to think creatively。 Examinations do not motivate a student to seek more knowledge， but to restrict his reading； they do not enable him to study consistently throughout the semester， but to induce cramming during exam week。
Examinations also lower the standards of teaching。 Since teachers themselves are often judged by examination results， they are often judged by examination results， they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques。 And no subjects can be taught successfully merely through being approached with intent to take examinations。
Actually， few of us admit that examinations can contribute anything really important to the students" academic development。 If that"s the case， why can"t we make a change and devise something more efficient and reliable than examinations？