Some people think that examinations can encourage students to learn. I strongly disagree with this idea. As I am a student, I will say that examinations may have their benefits. For example, they make it easier to assess the ability of students, or train students to use their time wisely. But examinations cannot encourage students to learn.
Firstly, do you think students will learn happily when they hear something like, “This chapter will be in the examination, so remember to study hard every day, or you may fail the examination.” or “The examination will be a lot harder than this quiz!”? Absolutely not! Students will be under great pressure. They hate examinations and worry about the examinations and are made to think about the examinations when they are having lessons, doing quizzes, doing dictations and homework. What a dreadful, unhappy and awful life this is!
You may say, maybe it is really tiring and unpleasant with the examinations’ burden, but the burden can make student study harder and harder. This proves that examinations can encourage them to learn! No, I hold the opposite view. This shows that examinations CANNOT encourage students to learn. In fact, they are forced to learn. Students surely study because of the examinations, but at the same time they curse the examinations. Is this successful ‘encouragement of learning’? Or is this successful ‘encouragement of hating learning’?
Secondly, what can the students do with the examination results after having their examinations? “Oh, of course they find out their weaknesses!” someone says, “And this can encourage them to learn.” But is it really so satisfactory? Not really. Some students having bad results may lose their confidence after seeing their marks. Teachers and parents punish them. Classmates laugh at them. They feel disappointed with themselves. Do you think this means encouraging them to learn? They will give up learning! In more serious cases, students will kill themselves. They even abandon their lives because they see their marks and think they are a loser. And for the students with good result, their pressure is greater. You can always hear that the best students commit suicide because of not having perfect results. What do you think this is? Encouraging students to learn?
Thirdly, what are the reasons for learning? One of them is to let people enjoy the happiness of learning. But why are the students learning, under the examination system? Marks. They don’t really enjoy learning. The students fear having bad examination results . They hate the teasing of their friends, the anger of their parents and the disappointment of their teacher, so they fear examinations, and at last fear learning! Because of their fear, they must study madly to get marks. This is not something for us to say ‘encourage students to learn’ with a smile. This is murder of students’ interest in learning.
Because of the above reasons, I don’t think examinations can encourage students to learn.