Some feel that students should not have to take standardized tests in school. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Some feel that students should not have to take standardized tests in school. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Agree. Yes. why? 

• It is very much possible that one might not be good at one topic but excel in the other, but examiners overlook this fact, resulting in unfair  assessment 

• Resulting in jealousy 

• Otherwise Intelligent students lagging behind

• This will free them from the stress and also let them score as per their abilities 

Disagree? Why 

• It will be chaotic and amount to wastage of resources and time

• It will be hard to judge the potential as per certain predefined parameters  

• Will lead to deterioration of academic outcomes and competitive environment will go missing 

• Will fuel escapist attitude among learners 

• Will not let overall development take place 

Some commentators proposed that pupils at school should be spared from appearing for exams based on a universal formula. In my view, this statement needs to be critically analyzed. 

Those  lobbying for such an arrangement  profess that this will allow school authorities to plan exam curriculum specific to the abilities of individual learners, benefitting the latter. It has been observed that when the whole class is evaluated on certain uniform parameters, many tend to underperform despite being more intelligent than their classmates, simply because the questions included in the assessment were from the topics that were not their forte. This might discourage them, and even force many to abandon  study altogether, whereas making them write tests that gauge their abilities in their strength areas will persuade them to invest themselves devotedly and excel academically, turning education into more meaningful for them. 

Nevertheless, the critics of the suggestion feel that applying this policy will prove to be a recipe for disaster as chaos will result when it comes to preparing question papers. School authorities will have a tough time evaluating the capabilities of every learner, and their focus will shift from fostering scholastic qualities to simply helping them pass examinations, defeating the prime objective of formal tuition.

Similarly,  this will result in devolution of academic curriculum and outcomes: it is likely that everyone will opt for the content that they find uncomplicated and unchallenging, depriving them of not only useful knowledge but also of the opportunities to develop exploratory skills that could help them surmount hurdles and challenges, leaving them bereft of wisdom. 

In hindsight, I fail to concur with this statement completely; such a strategy will do more harm than good and defeat the very purpose of education: polishing the overall personalities of youngsters.