CHENNAI: One of the critical issues that would need addressing in any quest to improve the education system in India would be a large scale revamp of the examination system, said eminent economist and former RBI governor C Rangarajan.
Speaking at the Annual Day celebrations of P S Senior Higher Secondary School in the city on Saturday, Rangarajan said that the examination system in Indian education was flawed. “It is quite often geared to see how students answer exams than to actually measure the knowledge they have acquired,” he pointed out.
“Our exams should not be a test of memory but a test of analytic ability. When I was a teacher in the US, I spend more time in setting questions than answering them. Because that is how it must be. Those questions should examine the critical examining ability of the students,” he stated.
Rangarajan also mentioned the ongoing dialogue on the need for skill development further proof of an inadequate education system. “I really think this is a sad commentary on our education system when after 18 - 20 years of schooling, it is felt that our graduates are not adequately skilled. It is necessary that vocational training and skill training be an integral part of any curriculum,” he concluded.