Are Competitive Exams the Best Way to Judge Merit?

Exams have always been disliked by most students. Exams are a part of the students’ journey to evaluate their best potential and skills. However, exams are always perceived as a source of fear and frustration. But it’s a hard thing to accept that all the competitive exams are significant to test the knowledge of every child. The educational sector was highly affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 in many countries. With the transition of the learning process from offline to online mode, it was easy for so many students to cheat on their tests and assignments.

As a result of this situation, competitive exams have become the only way to assess students' potential for upskilling. The purpose of conducting such exams is to evaluate the student’s knowledge and skills and also to enhance their revision skills. In today’s time, the elementary and primary schools have started encouraging children to participate in the competitive exams that are being conducted by private organisations or government bodies like Olympiads, NTSE, NMTC, and others. With the students getting the experience of competing in such competitive exams, it would help them to honour and boost their credibility and skills.

Competitive exams are a way to prepare students for their upcoming challenges and to choose the most qualified and deserving people for various purposes. Although competitive exams are tough, they also provide various advantages to students, such as organising their studies in a planned manner and learning time management. The government has made it mandatory for students to appear in competitive exams like CUET, CAT, JEE, and NEET. It is only after clearing such exams that students will be able to get admissions into prestigious colleges.

With the early exposure given to the students in their schools, the students will be able to ace the exams easily and will also stand out from others on the same floor. Nowadays, to get a good job as well, people have to appear in some competitive exams like UPSC, Civil Service, and aptitude tests to get the desired position they aspire for. The prime objective is to check the understanding of the application of concepts and the skills a person possesses, which would help to choose the deserving person for the required position.

Through competitive exams, the students would also be able to choose their interests, which would help them to decide their career streams and would also develop a practical and analytical approach and deeper knowledge of subjects. Competitive exams are also taken as a measure to provide financial assistance like scholarships, awards, and rewards for their amazing results, through which they would also be able to get admission to their required institutions. Competitive exams also work as a medium to serve as feedback to all the students, through which they get to know how many skills they lack and what the areas they need to focus on. Through competitive exams all the persons will be fairly assessed and would not be deprived of the available opportunities.