There seems to be an increasing trend towards assessing students through exams rather than through continual assessment. What are the advantages and disadvantages of exams as a form of assessment?

In recent times, there has been a continuous rise in the screaming of students through examinations compared to through perioding assessments.

This

essay will

first

discuss the merit and

thereafter

the demerit of curricular exercises.

To begin

with, examinations help to bring out the best in a student.

That is

to say that, learners tend to put more effort into their studies when they know something is at stake like failing and repeating the class or not being able to graduate.

For example

, statistics have shown that the majority of students only start reading their books toward the end of the semester as the exam date is being announced.

Accordingly

, they thrive to achieve success by learning more things that can make them pass, which

also

help them to develop intellectually.

Moreover

, without

this

, the educational system will be easily flooded.

For instance

, entrance screening exercises help to select lesser candidates which are academically sound and more eager to learn from a large pool of larger candidates.

Thus

, helping to decongest the school with hardworking learners. Contrary to the advantages aforementioned, one possible drawback of an exam is that it can affect the health of the pupils negatively.

As a result

of frequent failing in academics, some pupils can become psychologically or mentally disturbed sometimes having the ideation to harm themselves. To illustrate

further

, in a recent study conducted among the undergraduates of a tertiary institution in Nigeria, it was found that the majority of them who suffered depression agreed to not doing well in academics as the underlying factor.

Hence

, without

such

exercises, the risk of having psychological trauma is reduced. In conclusion, the increasing pattern of assessing students via examinations have both useful and detrimental impacts on learners which have been highlighted above.