Mid terms (are/our) appetizers. . .

By Summya Khan

The situation of mid terms at Karachi University could be well-expressed in Shakespeare’s famous quote: to be or not be…that is the question. It sounds funny but it’s the truth. We have a very interesting system of mid term papers. Let us take a look at it.

Normally an examination schedule is always issued by the chairperson. But when it comes to our mid term examination a.k.a. MIDS, the concept of a schedule fades away somewhere in the dark. DEMOCRACY rules. The students get to decide when, where, at what time, what topics and sometimes even the classroom is decided by the students. The teacher absolutely has nothing to do with the MIDS except for the grading of course.

The most interesting part is the choice of topics that are to be given in the examination paper. It seems as if the students are deciding a theme for a welcome party instead of topics for an examination paper. Everybody who is anybody takes part in the discussion. Even the ones who rarely bother to show up in class suggest, “Sir! Please conduct the test on Monday; I have a lot of preparation to do”.

Its funny to hear this since people who never take lectures and demand time for preparations are the ones who never bother about grades be it the MIDS or the finals. Because of these “CHARACTERS”, sometimes serious students face problems in their timetable.

Now coming to the part where MIDS, metaphorically, become appetizers. Taking the MIDS or not mostly is a choice that is left upon the students, as I mentioned earlier. Although most of the time students never take their mid terms seriously, they are, anyhow an important part of our final exams and our GPA. The real purpose of our MIDS is to provide an understanding of how the ‘real deal’ i.e. the final paper would be like. They are meant to stimulate our neurons before we take the actual paper. Teachers never mention this point and mostly never force the students to take their MIDS. It is a sort of trick they play on us I guess, because the students who tend to ignore the MIDS often fail in their finals too. The reason is simple: they never have any idea about what questions could be asked in the paper.

I suggest students ought to take their mid term examinations. It provides us a good understanding of our syllabus. Even if we fail, there is a choice of a ‘make-up test’. But we all know that this article is only beneficial for those who care what their GPA looks like on their mark sheets and not for the ‘CHARACTERS’ I mentioned. Isn't it?