“If they don’t pass, they are ready to jump, cut and swallow” – why Russian graduation system should be changed.

Summertime, the most beloved and expected season, is coming. However, longer days and warmer weather herald that the nightmare of every graduate is close.
Exams are a common way to asses the knowledge gained during school years. Exam results are also influencing the decision of acceptance for a prospective student. However, the exam system initially created to ease and organize the process, became a reason for sleepless nights, wasted nerve cells and vain mention of the Lord.
What if your future studies, career and even self-esteem were dependant on a combination of random questions presumably assessing your knowledge?  Usually preparing for 2 years for a 3-hour performance – not every sportsman can boast of such dedication. However, it is a reality of Russian graduates. One of them agreed to share his impressions and knowledge with me.

Application process

Each university has a set of exams required for application. A student wishing to apply for the institution, has to pick the needed exams and pass them with the highest score possible. The usual requirement is 3 exams. Thus, 100 points per each make a maximum of 300 possible. For comparison, the school diploma with honours adds up to 10 points – basically worths a couple of questions.
According to the recent data, in order to get into a medical university on a free basis the student has to have at least 283 points (94! points per each exam).

Sad statistics on exams

Exam is a lottery in a sense. And sorrowfully, as in a real life some people don’t get lucky and even with a profound knowledge can get low scores or even fail. And parents and teachers usually add up to already existing internal pressure, what makes teenagers turn into themselves.

According to the  examination, Unified State Exam is an extremely stressful event – on average, students are in a state of stress for 1/3 of the entire exam time.

What is really important

As noted in the Convention on the Children’s Rights, education should be received without damage to health -, physical and mental and without losing the desire to learn. If we want to have a healthy and educated society, we must find an approach to schooling without  provoking hatred. The testing system has proved itself being invalid – exams do not develop creative thinking and communication skills, crucial for real applicable knowledge.