Sci.Int.(Lahore),26(5),2206-2208,2014
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HISTORY OF EXAMINATIONS:
A PANORAMIC VIEW
Habib Ahmad
The University of Lahore, Department of Mathematics , Pakistan
Formal examination in education have a surprisingly short history. This system of examinations was launched in Universities
in the beginning of the nineteenth century and in schools in 1858 in England. The direct relevance of the history of the
development of the examination system has been pointed out by John Roach ( 1971 ) who states that “ the Victorian system
of school examinations has survived in its essentials into the middle of the twentieth century “ , A study of the topic also
illustrates the obvious links between what is taught and how it is examined .
UNIVERSITIES AND SCHOOLS
Reforms in the curriculum and imposition of written
examinations were carried out, in the face of much internal
resistance, at Cambridge university in 1780 and in Oxford
university twenty years later ; i , e .1800 . The viva voce
element, which had been the main method used, was
retained, but played a smaller than before .
It was realized by both universities and schools that
standards were inevitably dependent on the quality of pupils
in the schools. With a view to raising standards , first
Cambridge in 1858 and the Oxford established examinations
in schools .
The model for this scheme , which was as the ‘ Locals ‘ was
to be found in schools in the south-west where , in the
previous year. T. D . Acland and others had offered
examinations for boys intending to follow employment in ‘
agriculture , arts , Industry and commerce ‘ . Candidates for
locals , after satisfying the examiners in elements of ‘ plain
English education ‘ were allowed to choose from a wide
range of subjects . It is not surprising that there was more
emphasis on the arts than the scientific or practical subjects.
At first schools played little part in examining the actual
process. Brereton ( 1944, p 74 ) has described how they
were conducted .
The examinations were looked upon as an extension of
the University into the outer world rather as a part of school
Education System . For the first three years , the class list
were headed , Examination of students not members of the
university . The contract for the examination was made by
the individual student and his parents directly with the
university . The school took no part in it , and the
examinations were held, as often as not , in public hall . On
the first day , the Presiding Examiner , complete with cap ,
gown and hood , came direct from Cambridge with the
question papers and took complete charge. For a week the
university extended its complete premises to exclude.
These examinations halls in different parts of the country .
These locally held examinations were concerned with
individual candidates . There were two interesting features
in the method of assessment used . First , they were internal
examinations , especially arranged for each school . Teachers
submitted a schedule of subjects taught and examinations
were set based on the curricula offered ; papers were marked
by the school staff, an early example of the ‘ mode ‘ two ‘
method . Second, an inspection of the school premises
accompanied the examination. Inspectors were appointed by
the schools visited . In this way , a full interpretation of the
results obtained could be made ‘ School Certificates ‘ were
issued by the boards , but were not necessarily through of
as passports to the higher education .
The same system of examination was enforced in the British
colonies such as India .
On the other hand , a third body , London University,
especially introduced a Matriculation examination in 1858
which carried out with it the necessary for entry to degree
work . A restricted range of subjects was offered with a
pass rate of less than a half . Furthermore , unlike the other
two boards , it was an entire external examination, which
inhibited the syllabuses of those schools entering candidates
. In India , London university examination system was
followed in 1870 .
The Civil Service And School Examination.
The Northcote Trevelyan Report of 1854 had introduced the
principle of competitive examinations in Civil Service and
Army . In the year when Oxford and Cambridge Locals
began , the first examinations for the Indian Civil Service
were held . Posts in service were one of the most soughtafter prizes for aspiring Oxford graduates .
Benjamin Jowett ( 1860) proposed that candidates should
be examined in two out of four ‘ schools’ which practically
coincided with the four schools of the of the recently
reformed Oxford University . Out of the 6875 marks awarded
for the examination. English language with literature and
history accounted for a quarter of the total . Greek and
Latin for another quarter , mathematics one seventh and
sciences only one twelfth .
The response of the endowed and new public schools was to
provide courses for likely future candidates . The
headmaster of Marlborough described the ‘ India Civil
Service and Army examinations as ‘ sitting like a blight on
education ‘ , compiling a master to teach not what was
good for the pupils but disliked the notion of specialization
of professional examinations which were now proliferating ,
making the task of the school as a place for general education
more difficult .
Towards Central Control
In 1860s Government appointed royal commissions to
investigate the efficiency
Of the schools . One , the Taunton commission, examined
over seven hundred endowed schools . It recommended
three grades of schools , each with its own curricula and
catering for different leaving ages and occupations . The
report criticized the Oxford and Cambridge Locals as being
too expensive and too difficult , and for being taken only
by a minority of the school population. It advocated an
educational council , a central authority for examinations but
which would be locally administered . Teachers were to be
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represented on the council and a professional register was
proposed . Opposition to the council came from public
headmasters and the scheme was stillborn .
The controversy over the appropriate body who should
have control of examinations continued till the end of the
century By 1900 , teachers were playing a greater part in
examining . For instance , in 1898 the Oxford Delegacy
decided to appoint mathematics examiners who had had
school experience . The Incorporated
Association of
Headmasters , founded in 1890 , appointed an examination
subcommittee to work with Cambridge Syndicate.
Together they were instrumented in promoting
new
syllabuses for juniors in elementary experimental in
promoting new syllabuses for juniors in elementary
experimental science and introducing the works of recent
authors in the modern language papers .
An other important development which must be mentioned
was the creation of an examination suitable for sixth
formers intending to proceed to either of the two universities
. The examinations mentioned so far had been intended for a
five – year course of study only; From 1874 , the ‘ Joint
Board ‘ or more correctly, the Oxford and Cambridge
School
Examinations Board,
administered
the
examinations . The board
provided machinery for
universities to directly influence the education of their
future undergraduates .
The implementation of the 1902 Education Act marks a
further stage in the development of the school examination
system . The Act had established municipal secondary
schools manly to provide recruits for lower middle - class ‘
white collar ‘ jobs . Regulations were issued by the new
Board of Education which favoured the teaching of arts and
humanities . By providing much of the finance foe
secondary education for the first time, the Board’s control
of the curriculum was strengthened.
One of the major concern of the Board was the large
number of institutions
offering examinations in the
secondary
field . A
Conservative Committee
on
Examinations in Secondary Schools ( 1911 ) found that the
multiplicity of external examinations interfered with the best
work of schools . A Secondary School Examination Council
was subsequently established by the Board in 1917 to
advise on the co- ordination of examinations .
Two new examinations were introduced by the council in
1917 to replace the many existing ones ; the School
Certificate , a test of five years’ grammar school education
and a Higher School Certificate , to be taken after two years
in sixth form . The Board maintained a tight grip on the
curriculum by prescribing three from which at least three
subjects must be taken .
1 . English subjects
2 . Foreign languages
3 .
Science and mathematics
A fourth group consisting of practical subjects such as art,
drawing , handicrafts was envisaged .
Although the Board had endowed the 1911 Committee’s
view that examinations were to asses competence rather than
act as a means of competition , by the 1930s , grading , into
credits , honours , and distinctions was introduced .
Employers still demanded the old matriculation qualification
at interviews and five credits became the equivalent of
Sci.Int.(Lahore),26(5),2206-2208,2014
matriculation , a level which became acceptance for entry
to both universities and professional bodies ,
Innovation And Reconstruction
Various innovatory suggestions were made to restore
examinations to their subordinate role in schooling . The
most farsighted came from the Council in its 1943 report ,
called Norwood Report . Single subject examinations were
to replace the existing group system .
Continuous
assessment , in the form of candidate’s school
Record , which would be noted on the certificate , was
recommended . Teachers were to a larger voice in external
examinations and universities and other bodies were to
have their own entrance tests at eighteen . It was
envisaged that external examinations could eventually be
replaced by teacher – controlled internal assessment .
These enlightened proposals became , as in previous
attempts at examination reform .
transformed into a different mould . The General Certificate
of Education ( GCE ) at Ordinary Level ( O-Level ) first
separated in 1951 , took the place of the School Certificate :
it was of a higher standard than the latter At Advance
Level ( A – Level ),
the examination
was to be qualifying
rather than
competitive in nature . Many factors militated against its
success . At Ordinary – Level ( O – Level ) , for instance ,
the fact that entry was for sixteen-year olds initially
excluded secondary modern pupils and the examination
was not a necessary stepping-stone to ‘ A – Levels ‘ . From
1963 grades of performance , not originally part of the
scheme, appeared on ‘ A – Level ‘ certificates Inevitably . ‘
O ‘ and ‘ A ‘ level performance became an indicator of
university acceptability. Schools took little advantage of
the right to submit their own syllabuses. It was calculated
in 1969 that the two largest GCE boards had approved
among them a total of about twenty special syllabuses ,
mainly relating to history and English literature .
By the mid of 1950s, many secondary modern schools were
provided GCE courses for their pupils as a result of various
pressures . Its unsuitability as an examination for all but a
minority led to the Beloe Committee to recommend a new
examination , the Certificate of School Examination (CSE )
It was to be taken by the 20 percent below the GCE cohort
in four or more subjects , with a further 20 percent
attempting individual subjects . The three different modes
examining also gave the teacher a choice of assessment
technique ; externally set and marked papers, syllabuses
suggested to schools and externally set and internally set
and marked .
Recent Development
Changes in the political and educational thinking in the last
two decades have resulted in a
further look at the
examination system . The spread of comprehensive
education highlighted the problem of preparing pupils for
two different examinations ., it was argued that if there
was a continuum of ability in children , this should be
reflected within the scope of a single examination . The
growth in numbers of those staying on to the sixth form with
a variety of backward and qualifications and raising of
school leaving age to sixteen were additional factors to be
considered.
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The move away from direct control , as exemplified in the
Secondary Schools Examinations Council ( SSEC ) , can be
seen in setting up of the Schools Council for the curriculum
and Examination in 1964. The functions of SSEC were
transferred .to School Council ., which has a majority of
teachers on its committees . Recent proposals have included
a common examination at + 16 , a Certificate of Extended
Education for the seventeen year old and a new 18 +
examination at two level ( N and F ) to replace the existing
Advance Level ( A – Level )
Endo – Pak Education and Examination Systems . .
The present education and examination systems of Indo –
Pak.subcontinent was introduced by the British Rulers after
1880 . Although with the process of time , gradually certain
changes have been introduced in the past and present
governments in the syllabuses , courses and examination
systems . Management subjects , their teaching systems and
4xamination systems at university levels have been imported
from the universities of the U.S.A .
Pakistani and Indian Boards of examinations do not run the
British Examination System of O – Level and A – Level .
Schools running these two systems of education follow the
books written by the British authors for these two levels of
education .
Examinations are conducted by the local boards of education
treating the students of English medium of education .
There are only three colleges in Pakistan, which are
completely affiliated with the university of London in their
courses and examination systems . Their students pay tuition
fee and examination fee in terms British currency ( Pounds ) .
Government of Pakistan has no concern with these colleges .
These colleges are inspected by the officers of university of
London for their educational standard and progress . These
are,
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1 ) University College ( London ) Raiwind Road, Lahore ,
Pakistan (I also taught in this college )
2 ) University College ( London ) , Islamabad , Pakistan
3 ) University College ( London ) Karachi , Pakistan .
REFERENCES
1 ) The literature on this subject is extensive , Perhaps the
most exhaustive is Montgomery ( 1965 )
2 ) Historical studies relating to Secondary Education written
by Roach ( 1971 ) and Brereton ( 1944 ) ; Chaps . 4 and 5
3 ) Official Publications mentioned this article ;
i ) Board of Education Report of the Consultative
Committee on Examinations in Secondary Schools
(1911 )
ii ) Education of the Adolescent ( Hadow Report 1926
)
iii ) Secondary Education ( Spens Report 1938 )
iv ) Report of Secondary School Examinations Council
and Examinations in Secondary Schools ( Norwood
Report 1943 )
v) More recent Publications from School Council,
including Working Papers
No. 45 ( 1972 ) and No. 46 ( 1973 ) which deal
respectively, with curricula bases examination structures
in the sixteen to nineteen age Group and Examinations
at 16 + ; proposals for the future ( 1975 )