Sunday, February 8, 2009

No Grades!!

'Its hard to imagine schools without exams atleast for us. But everything that is out of our imagination cannot be out of existance!!'



Yes, Norwegian schools till the 10th grade do not have exams, no grading system! It was surprising for me to know this and i wondered how does the education ensures that the children acquire of what they are suppose to. When I asked this to one of the teacher at the school, she told me that exams are not the only way to make this happen. There are other ways for example: making them realize, helping them in things they have problems with, having a good contact with them,building up their creativity,etc which are very important for the all round development of a child.



Now, when I say no grading system I mean that they are not marked on how much they have acquired. They have tests to see their progress. And for for subjects like social science and natural science, they check on whether the child has understood the concept and not just the 'definitions'.


This reminds me of my school days when i had to memorize the definitions sometimes without understanding it. Everytime we had tests, we used to be more interested in the marks the other person got.


Ofcourse, it has its own disadvantages. Of what i have observed: some of them take it very lightly thinking it wont make a difference, low competence level which is very necessary in the society, sometimes its hard for teachers to make sure everything is understood.


The point is not to debate about the education systems but to accept and adopt some of it into one anothers in trying to make it better.



. -Afreen

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