State education minister Vinod Tawde recently emphasised on the need to reform the examination procedure to improve the education system in the state. Stressing on core learning instead of memorisation, he suggested the use of open-book examination method as one of the evaluation components in educational institutes. He was speaking at the DY Patil International University’s induction programme at Akurdi on Monday.
“Students need to understand what they are learning, not blindly mug up to get marks. This is not going to help them succeed in the long run. The aim should be to inculcate values and knowledge-based skills in students, so that they can truly emerge as human resource,” said Tawde.
Reacting to this, city college heads had mixed responses.
Supporting the open-book examination method, RS Zunjarrao, principal of Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, said, “We are already following it at the post graduate level. In choice-based credit system, open-book examinations is one of the components our teachers follow to evaluate our students. These students are pursuing higher education, and unless you know the concepts well, you can never really cheat even in an open-book test.”
In favour of a more balanced evaluation process, Teresa David, principal of Lakshmanrao Apte Prashala, said, “Some of the concepts need to be memorised, like spellings, equations and tables. Hence, you cannot totally rely on open-book tests, but they should be an integral part of the examination process, in addition to more analytic and practical-based means of evaluation.”
{{/usCountry}}In favour of a more balanced evaluation process, Teresa David, principal of Lakshmanrao Apte Prashala, said, “Some of the concepts need to be memorised, like spellings, equations and tables. Hence, you cannot totally rely on open-book tests, but they should be an integral part of the examination process, in addition to more analytic and practical-based means of evaluation.”
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