Introduction:
The perfect examination would be one in which the
student was accurately assessed in his knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis and evaluation of
material pertinent to the subject being examined 1, 2.
Although, the essay does determine the candidate’s
ability to write, assesses powers of logic, original
thought and creativity but the use of the essay type
question paper as the sole means of assessment has been
criticized because of its low reliability and subjective
marking 1, 3. Besides being liable to subjective marking,
the area covered by such an examination is very limited
and the marking of essays is time consuming.