Causes of Exam Failures, and a Way Out

Examination is the most reliable way of determining the level of intelligence of pupils / students in educational institutions and the level of achievement of teacher's lesson objectives. According to Duyilemi (2003), examination is the most difficult hurdle, which all categories of pupils / students have to scale over at one time or the other in educational institution. The term 'examination' however mean different thing to different people. Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary of English defines it as 'a testing of knowledge or ability'. New Caston Encyclopedia (1969), in Onotunde (1993) further takes it as one or more of a variety of tests to discover the quantity and quality of knowledge possessed by candidates. To Maduka (1993), it is a way of ascertaining how much of the contents of a course a candidate has acquired. Esomonu (1993) further considers it as a measure of knowledge and attainment, which helps to show the extent to which a learner has mastered a given course of instruction in relation to other learners.

Examination has several purposes in the educational system including the following:

- provides learner with knowledge of his achievement relative to the desired objectives so as to take remedial and corrective action;

- provides teacher with measurement of the appropriate and effectiveness of his / her teaching strategy thus enabling him / her make adjustments where necessary;

- used to diagnose learners difficulties, weaknesses and deficiencies in learning;

- used to encourage pupils / students to work steadily and productively over a period of time;

- used to inculcate in pupils / students those communication skills needed to reproduce aspects of one's knowledge in a conventionally acceptable form;

- used in internal and external validation of courses and curricula;

- can test pupil / student's ability to penetrate to the core of a problem with insight, marshal one's through with precision and logic;

- provides results, which serves as a means of assessment for which certificates of merit may be awarded to learners; and

- offers learner a realistic awareness of his relative intellectual status among his / her peers.

When a pupil / student fails to score up to the standard pass mark in an assignment, test or examination, such pupil / student is deemed to have failed such examination. Several factors are influencing the failure of pupils / students in examination. These factors can be grouped into student' based, teachers' based, school's based, parents / guardians', examination agency and government's based, which implies that almost all the stakeholders of education share in the blame of examination failure by pupil / student.

Student's factors

There is no doubt that a pupil / student needs to prepare thoroughly for examination. In this case, subjects' syllabuses have to be adequately covered and revised before such examination. The pupil / student should go further to practice past questions on each subject to be familiar with the kind of questions to be expecting and thus be fully prepared for the examination. Where a pupil / student is inadequately prepared, there will be tension on such pupil / student in the examination hall, which can lead to failure.

Drug consumption further encourages failure in examination. It is a norm nowadays for pupils / students to take sleep prevention drugs like Nescafe and stimulants like kolanut to be able to prepare for examination. Such Drugs in most cases do have negative effect (s) on the brain, which can lead to restlessness of such pupil / student in the examination hall.

Over confidence of pupil / student is another factor behind failure in examination. Some pupils / students believe that they are brilliant and therefore do not need to worry themselves reading much for examination. While in the examination hall, many pupils / students often fail to read instruction (s) thoroughly to understand what each question demands thus making them to answer the questions in the wrong way.

Poor study technique of pupils / students further contributes to examination failure. A pupil / student supposed to read all the topics in each subject's syllabus before examination. Where a pupil / student decides to select only the favourable topics to read and discarding others, this can make him / her restless in the examination hall, particularly when questions are eventually set on the reserved questions.

There is no doubt that examination malpractice is now a virus in the educational system of nations all over the world. Just like in the case of Computer, virus is noted for destroying or damaging a computer system thus rendering it non-functional. The menace of examination malpractice has reached an alarming and disturbing level in the educational system to the extent that the validity of certificates are now being threatened. Many pupils / students in educational institutions now rely on examination malpractice as a ticket for success in examination. Where such pupils / students are denied the opportunity to cheat in the examination hall by invigilators / supervisors or meet questions that are not prepared for, they would end up falling the examination.

School's factors

One of the features of educational institution is library, which is a place for extra study of pupils / students. In some institutions today, library is lacking thus depriving pupils / students the opportunity for self-reading, which can aid their learning. Where libraries are available, they are equipped with inadequate and obsolete books, journals and other study materials thus depriving the pupils / students the opportunity to gather latest information on each subject.

There is no doubt that a pupil / student needs a comfortable environment for examination. This implies that an examination room or hall must be tidy, well ventilated with adequate seats among others. Where these features are lacking, pupils / students become uncomfortable, which can eventually lead to failure.

Teacher's Factors

Teachers suppose to teach effectively and ensure that pupils / students understand the rudiments of their lessons. Where a teacher fails to cover subject's syllabus for pupils / students prior to examination, irregular in school and classes, fails to teach effectively with appropriate teaching aids and method, his / her pupils / students will gain less in the lesson, which can eventually leads to failure in examination.

In some schools, teachers are into the habit of victimizing female pupils / students that refuses their love advances, notwithstanding the level of performance of such pupils / students in their subjects. Not all the cases of failure of examination are therefore real as it has been a norm in tertiary institution for student to call for remarking of their scripts if they are sure of what they had written.

Parent's Factors

There is no gainsaying those parents / guardians occupy a central position in the education of their children. They therefore need to provide study materials including textbooks, notebooks, uniform and others for their children to facilitate their learning in school. Where parents /guardians fail to provide these materials for their children, the pupil / student would be affected in the school, which can lead them to failure.

Use of pupils / students for domestic activities at home further encourages failure. It is a norm in some families, particularly in African setting for pupils / students to be engaged in the selling of foodstuffs, goods and other items, even for farm activities after school hours thus preventing them from studying at home.

Poor moral training of pupil / student is another factor behind failure. At the home setting, some pupils / students indulge in the habit of watching films or playing at a time when they suppose to be reading their books and attending to assignments in preparation for the next day's activities. When examination comes, such students usually fail.

Government's Factors

Issue of inadequate teachers has been a major challenge in educational institutions of most nations in the world. It is unfortunate that in most institutions, teachers are inadequate for the teaching of students. To worsen situation, most of the available ones are unqualified for the job being outdated in knowledge. These problems are eventually shifted to the pupils / students at the end of which they perform poorly in examination.

Examination's Questions factors

Ambiguity of question (s) further promotes failure in examination. Two major characteristics of a good test or examination question are validity and reliability. For a test to valid, the questions must be very clear in meaning and structure so that pupils / students can understand what they demand. Where question is unclear, it makes pupils / students to be confused in the examination hall, which can make them, answer the questions in the wrong way.

Inadequate time further encourages failure in examination. Some questions are so time demanding. Where the time allowed is limited relative to the question (s) set, pupils / students may find it difficult to write many facts to pass such examination.

Failure of pupils / students has many effects in the educational system. It is a waste of the resources of parents and government on the training of such pupils / students for that particular period.

When pupil/student failed an examination, it can lead to repetition of the class. Such repetition can create pressure on the available infrastructures and facilities in the subsequent year.

Pupils / students that failed examination are emotionally discouraged particularly if it involves repetition of a class.

The following measures are suggested to address the issue of failure in examination in the educational system:

- Government should recruit additional teachers for the educational institutions. There is however the need for the training of the teachers to meet modern challenges. Sponsoring of the teachers for conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures can help in this regard;

- Teachers must alive to their responsibilities in educational institutions and refrain from acts that are capable of bringing them into disrepute. There should however be adequate monitoring and supervision of the teachers in educational institutions to ensure that they discharge their duties conscientiously. Those found to be involved in professional misconduct (s) should be given appropriate and commensurate disciplinary action to serve as deterrent to others;

- Parents / guardians at the home setting should complement educational institutions' efforts towards the training of their children. In this case, they should always provide the study materials like textbooks, notebooks and others for their children;

- Teachers or examination's agency to should always set clear / unambiguous questions with appropriate time schedule. Appropriate authority should however moderate questions set prior to actual examination.