BUK female student suffers exam anxiety

A 400 level female student of Bayero University Kano says she experiences uneasiness and distress before and during examinations.  Fibi Ibrahim Okoji of the Department of Mass Communication said her anxiety heightens as she revises for exams or during exams. She said: “Whenever exams approach I experience anxiety and fear not because I am not […]

A 400 level female student of Bayero University Kano says she experiences uneasiness and distress before and during examinations. 
Fibi Ibrahim Okoji of the Department of Mass Communication said her anxiety heightens as she revises for exams or during exams.
She said: “Whenever exams approach I experience anxiety and fear not because I am not ready for the exam but it has become habitual. I wonder what will become of me and how the exams would look like after attending lessons for three months.
“I kept asking myself if I am going to pass or fail and whether it is going to be difficult? This misery will continue throughout the period,” she said.
Also, Anwar Wali Habib, a 400 level student of Accounting said he too, suffers from test anxiety but his performance was hardly affected.
He said: “It all starts with fear of failure and inability to reach the standard you desired. You read again and again but still feel as if you did not read enough to get the desired standard.”
Malam Saminu Umar, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication said early revision is the best way of tackling exams distress.
“What students need to do in order to reduce exams anxiety and fear is to find out what is the source of exams anxiety and fear; because you cannot cure an ailment without finding the root cause of it,” he said.
“The initiating cause of fear and anxiety is lack of proper preparation which includes lack of focus in reading and most students read only when the time of examination approaches – sometimes a week to the examination,”  he added.
He then suggested seven ways of reducing examination distress as “(1) students need to pay serious attention when reading for examination; (2) they have to read in advance; (3)they should learn how to memorize what they learnt; (4) they must have a specific and good time for reading; (5) they should read in a place where there is minimum level of distraction; (6) they should engage in group discussion; and (7) they should read repeatedly.”

Danjuma, 400level, Mass Communication Department, BUK