Are entrance exams a must to select students for every course? (HZH)

Are entrance exams a must to select students for every course?

Nowadays, entrance exams have to be widely taken as a must all over the world in order to join the courses. It is widely accepted that entrance exams are the gateways to the courses students want to join. The world itself is a mixture of good and evil and entrance exam is not an exception.

Firstly, one point in favor of entrance exams is that they help examiners to reduce the element of bias and ambiguity in selecting the students. Examiners have to check the answers written by the students without knowing their identity numbers. Therefore, examiners have no chance of showing favoritism to any students. Besides, objective test items also reduce the element of bias and ambiguity.

The next argument for entrance exams is that they help students study regularly. The sense of having to take entrance exams always reminds students not to waste their time for no reason. Students need to spend more hours preparing for entrance exams. Otherwise, they will not be selected for the courses they want to join.

Another argument for entrance exams is that uniform standards are maintained in entrance exams. Examiners set a uniform syllabus and enable students to prepare accordingly to achieve certain set standards. Thus, entrance exams reduce confusion about the type of syllabus, the topics covered and so on.

The first argument counter to entrance exams is that they encourage exam-oriented study culture. Entrance exams develop exam-oriented study culture. Instead of students learning to make meaningful contribution or learning with critical-thinking, they are pressurized to study in order to pass entrance exam.

What is more, entrance exams encourage rat race and competition instead of collaboration. While deciding the cut-off scores to choose the selected students, a comparative system is used. The more points the students get, the more chances they have to pass the entrance exams. As a result, students develop the idea of competition with each other instead of collaboration.

Last but not the least, another counter-argument against entrance exams is that they make creativity and innovation take a back seat  among students. Students have to spend most of their time preparing for entrance exams. As a result, they become weak in others which encourage creativity and innovation. On the other hand, they do not have enough time left to do what they like such as their hobbies.

To sum up, it is undeniable that entrance exams will be used longer as necessity for any courses because no method is so easy, objective and effective as this one. However, they also have drawbacks, so they need to be followed by the one which reduces their drawbacks. I think that one of the best ways is using viva test. I think that viva tests will be able to polish the qualities of entrance exams.

Htet Zaw Htoo