Tuesday, February 18

THE WOES AND WOLVES OF EXAMINATIONS




The height at which great men have reached wasn’t attained by sudden flight, but they whiles their companions slept, kept on toiling in the night. This could certainly be a fitting phrase to engrave the foreheads of successful saints of examinations.
As I stayed late in the cold and lonely night trying to familiarize and recite each sentence in my lecture handout ,like the ‘twinkle twinkle little stars’; my favorite poem in nursery one, my over ambitious friend, Gbedze  played around waiting for the eleventh hour where he could stretch his elastic neck to watch his colleagues’ work.  I resisted temptations from my bed and decided to stay awake battling with my desire to sleep. Gbedze the buccaneer on the other hand beliefs life is all about making it; the process doesn’t really matter.
These two personalities are the two albums we might see our images in one of them each time we prepare for an examination. The mere mention of examination trickles fears and panic in spines of most individuals. To some students they wished there were no assessment after their lessons.
A personal experience was when we were to write our exams right after the Christmas festivities.  At home, food was served and you should expect every mouth wet and appetites rose for the ever delicious and well garnished meal from my mother but unfortunately for me I have to enjoy this meal after several thoughts on the battle ahead. The fear for the examination was like an albatross on my neck which can only evaporate into thin air after the examination. Yes!!! Until the rotten tooth is removed the mouth must chew with caution.
To a normal student, examination has become a battle of the mind, pen and paper without strength, gun nor blood. This shows the level of regard and importance a student places on examinations. But the question now is how do you attain this desired success? Is it by dubious or genuine means? We had instances where students had to chew and swallow papers as hard as the back of a Bible just to prove not guilty of cheating in an exams hall. The stories where students converted their skins to note books by transferring lecture notes on them could be told another day. In recent times, to get a student that complies strictly to the rules and regulations governing examination is uncommon as seeing a bearded man in a military camp.
There have been several outcries on a so called falling standard of education. As to whether or not it’s the standard of education that is falling or the academic performance that is creeping is another subject we would discuss in our next encounter. So for now let’s stick to the rules and regulations in our exams.
Albert Einstein once said that it’s better to be a man of value than a man of success. Why would you enjoy engaging in exam malpractice if you are much aware of its consequences? I don’t need to remind you of the various rules and regulations with regards to exams because you are much aware. The he-goat that does not heed good counsel finds the butcher’s knife at his neck.
To add to our woes in the exams hall are the wolves that laid ambush on our campus to devour unsuspecting students. They hide in the bush to attack us on our return from class late in the night. Some present themselves as men of God who are ready to save us from the hands of the evil ones. We had instances where valuable items were snatched and extorted from students with some sexually abused.
I do not want to  bore you with litany of cases where our colleagues were being attacked by these wolves but what we need to do as students is to be vigilant and sober. Our security is our personal responsibility. My advice is for us to move in groups if we found ourselves returning from studies late in the night. We should be wise enough not to be swindled by these criminals.
WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST IN THE EXAMINATIONS.

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