“Examination should test the real knowledge of students; it is not a reproduction of what a teacher has taught,” Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Karnataka Battu Satyanarayana has said.
He was speaking after the inauguration of a six-day Workshop-cum-Training Programme on Testing, Evaluation and Question Item Writing in Kannada organised by the Department of Linguistics, Central University, in association with the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru.
“Many a time, teachers just take question papers of the previous two or three years and prepare new question papers. It is very unfortunate that we don’t set questions in a scientific way. Teachers should set question papers in a creative way avoiding repetitions. Today, teachers are concentrating more on politics than on developing language,” he said.
Talking about the opportunities of studying Kannada in the Central University, he said that many students are not willing to join to study Kannada because they have to study one or two elective papers in the English language.
“Students should know that if they know one language perfectly, they can learn any other language. If Kannada students learn English or Hindi or any other additional language, that will be advantageous for them to become a national and international literary person. They will not get this opportunity in any other university. Hence, our teachers should educate the prospective students about these opportunities,” he said.
CIIL representative Biresh Kumar said that the CIIL was established in 1967 with the purpose of protecting all Indian languages, scheduled and non-scheduled.
“National Testing Services was established in 2006 with the objectives of creating nationwide consensus on evaluation and testing and developing basic reference material for evaluation and testing. It also aimed at training human resource in evaluation and testing. If any institute comes forward to train teachers in evaluation and testing in any Indian language, we will provide all support. We are also providing fellowship to doctoral and post-doctoral research,” he said.
Academic Director of Central University Basavaraj Donur said that question paper setting is an art as well as science.
“Teachers should know not only how to teach but also how to examine and test students about what they are supposed to know. Teachers should be creative, imaginative and intellectual in setting question papers,” he said.
Dean of the School of Humanities and Languages in Central University Vikram Visaji, who presided over the event, said that questions should consider even minute issues and inspire students to think. “We should not set questions for the sake of doing it. This six-day programme will help teachers know the art and science of setting question papers in a scientific and logical way,” he said.
