Despite attending classes or lectures from the beginning to the end of a term or a semester for that matter, most of the education systems still require that one sits for an exam, at least besides other requirements such as a certain minimal percentage in class attendance in a given session. Other requirements such as assignments, both group and individual may exist depending on the institution or the education system, but at least all share one characteristic in common, that students have to be examined. As such, this has become a norm and little opposition is evident, as everyone takes it that learning institutions administer test for progressive improvement and in good faith. The timing for tests has not often gone down well with most students citing certain days of the week as better suited for tests than others.
Most students strongly feel that tests should not be administered to them on Fridays. Friday, being the last day of the week, often finds students minds worked up after a week long, and full of activities. Imagine a student who covers six hours in class every day, and needless to say, each of these areas carries some homework at the end of the day. By simple calculation, by Friday morning, such students usually have covered well over twenty hours of taxing concentration. A can only expect a student to give their best only at the best of conditions, and with their minds fresh, both of which do not point Friday as an optimum day.
Most families often go out over the weekend, and students look forward to such outings. Friday, not only to students but also to their parents, is seen as the day to set the mood for such functions. Lines such as “Feel good Friday” are often popular and everyone has their mind set that it’s the day to usher in weekends. Even in most public offices, a complex task on Friday will in most cases be forwarded to Monday. In school, a test is the most complex task, and in all fairness should not be administered on Friday.
From another school of thought, a person’s ability to deliver is best evaluated on what they offer on the worst of mind straining situations. A person, who delivers in the worst of situations, is well equipped and well positioned for any task. A task such as a test on Friday on students would therefore be the best measure and therefore an option of administering tests on Friday should be considered.
As a conclusion, everyone who has been to school and sat for tests for that matter agrees that the roots of education are bitter and only the fruits are sweet. Learning should be a friendly task, with positive participation from students who are the main beneficiaries. The centre of a learning situation should be the student and consulting them on issues that affect them is not too much to ask. From the foregoing, few students, if at all there are any, agree that Friday is an optimum day for a test. In all fairness, teachers should not administer tests on Friday.
