BANNER: Of Jutts, Nutts & Peanuts: Fixing the Examination System in Pakistan

By: Waqar Azeem Jappa

“Listen! Truth must be told. Facts must be stated. The teaser of “The Legend of Maula Jutt”, the story of rivalry between jutts and nutts is no doubt the best thing happened to Pakistani Cinema so far but. Wait a second. Pause. Let me make myself clear first.  I mean no harm, no disrespect to anybody. Both Hamza and Fawad are great in their own right. Okay. But. Peanuts when compared with the great Sultan Rahi and the sinfully spontaneous Mustafa Qureshi! Make no mistake on that. I had enough of Koko korena wala torture already. This redoing thing just doesn’t go well. It must stop.” Sohana my friend and a movie freak just went wild on the other side of the WhatsApp call, late last night.

Bhen! Have you gone nuts?  I mean look at the time. All your genius could think of is to call me at this late hour of the cold December night and to tell me that the Nawa’nn Aaya ain Sohniaaa actor is greater than the Maan Mayal fame Pyare Afzal or Pyare Afzal fame Hamza Abassi? And the late Oye Jageerdara actor still rules people’s hearts and Fawad Khan stands nowhere against his roar even after his death?  Nonsense. Total nonsense. What has my humble soul to do with it all? And that  Ko Korena wala torture? What was that? I didn’t even listen to Rashk-e kamar or Afreen,afreen much. For God’s sake! Sohana grow up!  There are things in people’s lives other than gossiping about showbiz and following unlimited number of celebrities on Instagram.  I also lost my cool.

Do you even realize you have broken my concentration? I was working on the flawed examination system in Pakistan and how to fix it for Education 101 course. I complained to Sohana for wasting my time.

“Really? Were you able to fix it then? I mean, in Naya Pakistan, one never knows. Things can get fix quickly. One has seen lot of politicians and bureaucrats getting fixed lately. “Fix it” never worked in Karachi. Though its founder later became a member of the national assembly. He might be able to clinch a ministry or something in future to complete his unfinished agenda. Just saying bro.

So where were we?  You were saying something about examination system in the country. Did you fix it then?” Sohana tried hard to sound like a sensible and bright young lady but she turned out to be a wounded lioness.

Yes. At least on paper. I replied to her.

Now you listen to me.  My study suggests that Pakistan has one of the poorest examination systems in the world. It is based on assessing factual knowledge rather than gauging a student’s analytical skills, critical thinking and actual comprehension of the syllabus. It is like stuffing the student’s head with a lot of disjointed facts as into a basket. That basket is carried into the examination room to be emptied.  And once the exam is over the empty basket is carried out again into the world. Get it?

Let me put it more simply. The mental growth and innovation which should be the prime objectives of an assessment process are absent from almost every examination system of the country. Take any exam.  You will find it curriculum driven rather than achievement oriented. The current system promotes memorization/cramming not learning. At least the public sectors one. Even the various competitive exams or the so called “moqablay ka imtehan”.

“Okay! So what are your findings to make it better? “She asked

I think a refined and comprehensive internal assessment system at school level with equal weightage to written as well as verbal portion must be done on priority basis. Training of paper setters and paper marking staff, reward for critical and out of the box thinking, strict invigilation can be equally helpful.  And last but most important, establishment of a Central Assessment Board at Federal level by re amending the 18^th constitutional amendment to bring the education sector under federal control with unified education system throughout the country is a must if you are aiming for a knowledge based economy.

The writer is a part-time actor, occasional blogger and a regular dreamer. He has an M.Phil in media studies from University of the Punjab. He can be reached at waqarfcc@gmail.com.