Is an exam-oriented system a violation of children's rights to education?

Abstract

It is indeed difficult to give a proper interpretation whether examination is a violation of children's rights to education. For many educationists view examination as a necessary instrument or process to measure pupils' achievement or to evaluate schools performance in general: thus the common perception of examination as the 'necessary evil'. The question of whether examination is a violation of children's rights to education is determined by its purpose and objective. If the intended policy of examination is to control or screen students' access or mobility to higher education, then we can rightly say that it is an abuse of children's rights to education. Schools are forced to exam-oriented due to public's demand. When examination results are used primarily to measure performance and school effectiveness, schools are forced to go for an examination oriented learning; thus putting pressures on teachers and pupils to go for good performance.