examination woes!!

Of late the number of students resorting to unfair means to succeed, especially in examinations is on the rise. Although the innovations employed in such situations deserve appreciation they cannot be condoned. Why do students even think of such means? Is it the fear of failure? May be! But failure in what? Failing in an exam (even assuming that one has worked hard not to) must make one more reflective, more industrious and more focused. It is a learning process. But, unfortunately the fear of ‘failure’ weighs more heavily on their minds than the fear of being ‘caught in the act’. Who is to blame for this unhealthy trend? Of course, that students must restrain from such practices is indisputable. But are there other ways to help them stay away from such shortcuts to success? Perhaps there are!! Is it possible to stop examining rote learning and concentrate on enhancing their critical and creative abilities? For this to materialize our examination system needs a major revamping and a lot more thinking (and time) must go into the preparation of question paper. Malpractices in examinations can be stopped only when our testing patterns focus on the application aspects, completely or largely ignoring textual and factual comprehension.

Relevance of Hierarchy!!

Often our mind dabbles with Utopian thoughts. Establishing a system with no hierarchy is one such doing the rounds for many days. I can recall some comments form our own city's technocrats when the software industry was in its infancy; there were many who spoke proudly about the non- existence of hierarchy in their organizations. "Radical, great, that's how organizations must function, wonderful philosophy" - many more such epithets had rent the air then. Interestingly, such notions are expressed, quite vociferously, even today. I cannot fathom how a system can work without hierarchy, without roles being assigned. The objects or the people, their attributes, their relationships and the environment they are in are integral to a system. So long as these remain important to a system one cannot ignore the value of interdependence - the most important characteristic of systems. The system may be a 'whole' but it also involves interaction among the 'parts'. This is where hierarchy is useful - for resolutions. Each member of a system may have one or multiple roles to play. Conflicts are bound to exist, but conflicts have also to be resolved- Hierarchy comes in handy. If a small unit like family cannot run sans hierarchy how can a huge organization function without it? To work efficiently and effectively roles assigned must be stuck to and played accordingly, trouble starts when boundaries are transgressed.