YOUR report “Exam blues” (NST, Oct 28) should be food for thought for those who are concerned and associated with education.

The purpose of examinations is to evaluate a student, that is, to find out how well he or she has understood the contents of a subject.

But students always try to find short cuts to prepare for exams by studying spotted questions and model answers provided by many tuition centres, teachers, etc.

I totally agree with Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Khoo Kay Khim that students need to prepare fully for exams, and not go into the exam hall knowing just bits and pieces of a subject.

What happens if the students passes the exams with good results? Does this student really know his subjects well? Does the result reflect the student’s true understanding of the subjects?

We need to study subjects for knowledge and not to know certain sections of a subject. This would be defeating the purpose of education.

When I was in school, the only reference book we had was the textbook. The textbook plus notes from teachers were the main source of reference to prepare for exams in those days.

But things have changed dramatically. Attending exam seminars is becoming a must for all students, be they in urban or rural areas.

Parents today are willing to fork out substantial amounts to pay for their children’s exam seminars because they think their children will be able to score a string of As in the exams after attending such seminars.

We are not against such seminars. Perhaps these seminars can focus on question-answering techniques and teach students how to provide good answers for questions instead of merely providing spotted or forecast questions.

As Khoo points out, our education system needs a revamp to arrest such critical educational problems as that faced by our students, teachers and parents.

DR S. NATHESAN, Muar

Source: NST – October 29, 2008