What is the relevance of exam grades to our children’s future?

Now that examination results out, what do the grades students attain mean? The last few weeks have seen the release of the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), O-Level and A-Level results by Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) results.
Each of the releases triggers rounds of jubilations alongside cries of frustration, depending on the candidate’s scores. The public is then treated to numerous profiling of best students and schools by the media, family parties as well as prize giving to best students by schools.
But barely will the dust have settled before schools begin preparing for the next round of examinations. Students in candidate classes are subjected to round after round of tests, mock exams and revision of past papers and model answers.
So tightly are we in the grip of this examination fever that we hardly think about what examination grades really mean? Do they offer the skills and knowledge that our children need in life?
Not long ago, I approached a small rural primary school with an offer to set up a reading club. I was directed to the head of the lower primary school section with the advice: “Maybe try those young children because P6 and P7 pupils have to prepare for exams and have no time to spend reading your books.” But what examinations are they preparing for?
Why is the year 1894 important in the history of Uganda? Question 36, Social Science Studies (SST), Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), 2010. State any two reasons why African countries continue to depend on other countries – Question 52b, SST, 2009)
Now ask yourself: What does knowing the answers to these questions mean? The first question supposedly has a single correct answer, but not only don’t I know it, but I also do not know its relevance.
As for the second question, I would question the ability of a 12-year-old to properly engage with such a level of analysis, meaning their only option is to “learn” it by rote and forget it soon afterwards.
This focus on memorisation does not stop at primary level as it is also applied at secondary level. Do not get me wrong - memorisation is the basis for all learning – one cannot acquire critical thinking skills without obtaining factual knowledge. However, the examination-oriented system today rewards memorisation so much that students are not encouraged to foster higher-order skills.
When I taught at university, I usually struggled with students who could not write essays correctly. I often wondered how they passed the English composition O-Level examination. At some point, one of my students solved this mystery for me.
She told me that their strategy for English compositions was to study various model compositions ahead of the examinations, and then try and fit those to whatever question came. They never actually had to write a composition from scratch! Sometimes, she told me, they even included words whose meanings they did not know!
Examinations can be a very good tool to measure learning. If a student does indeed write a composition from scratch, then a high score on that composition would mean she has acquired the skill.
However, if she only has to cobble together different bits and pieces from compositions she has read previously, then one cannot say the examination grade has the same meaning.
In the end, I ask myself - do these examination grades measure what we believe they should?
Dr Nshemereirwe is an independent educator and researcher.