Going to school, exams, and tests have been part of the curriculum and a way to evaluate the students at the end of the term. So whether you like it or not, you will have to read so as to pass the exams and be able to move to the next class, but the real question is, are exams and text really a measure of intelligence or just a test of memory?
I will say that exams and tests have significant roles in the lives of students. Apart from building memory, there are other things that exams do to students; they boost their confidence and also give retentive memory to the students. They also give discipline to the students, because whether you like it or not, you have to read. Even if you do not like reading, you must read to pass the exams and move to the next level. Failure to read and pass will lead to failure in the exam and will not be able to move to the next class.
Meanwhile, exams give the teachers the ability to know who is reading and who is not reading; however, can these exams be a determinant of intelligence? Of course not; exams are good, but that doesn't mean they will measure the intelligence of the students. There are so many things that used to happen during the exam period and can make someone fail the exams.
Given examples of a student who got sick during the exams and was unable to read for exams, in the process the person failed the exam, are we to say this person is not intelligent just because he or she failed the exams? Of course not; there are circumstances during the exam period, and anything can lead to failure. During my time in school I have seen people that circumstances happened to and failed the exam, but that doesn't mean they are not intelligent.
Moreover, there are categories of people; we have the gifted people, the average people, and the low learners. These are different people that can assimilate in different ways and also have different patterns in reading their books to pass. If these three people sit together to write an exam, there is a possibility that the low learner might come out in flying, color, or vice versa. This does not mean the other people do not have good memories or are not intelligent.
Meanwhile, an intelligent person goes beyond what you know in the book or what you can even do with it. Given, for instance, a student can be so good in a particular thing he or she knows how to do, and the person will be struggling with readings or even passing the exams, that doesn't mean the person is not intelligent.
In my school, there is this one girl who is so good in taekwondo. Her performance is so brilliant, and she has traveled to many places because of the exceptional skills she can use in taekwondo. At the same time, this girl struggles a lot with her academics; in fact, she has been reported to me about her performance in the school. Does this mean she's not intelligent? Of course not.
Given another example, a coach can read everything and knows everything but will not be able to apply these skills in the field, as he/she does not know anything about practical matters. This only shows us that intelligence goes beyond what we just learn in school because you can be good in school and will not be able to apply it in real life, and the person you think is dull in school will be doing so great outside the school premises
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