Why is there EXAMS???

Life is already pretty bad as it is. Add to it the stress and tension of having to perform well for the university exams whose purpose completely eludes me. Being an engineering student, in trivandrum I am lorded by the Kerala University which has the done the IMMENSELY great thing by putting both S3 and S4 exams on adjacent days. With the present timetable I'd have exams on 5,6,7 and 8 of August. Why bother putting exams? Exams are there to test a student on his skills and knowledge, NOT to impress upon him/her what all he doesn't know. Granted the majority of the student community are the followers of last minute study. But the University officials shouldn't do this sort of cruelty to the students.
And what about the purpose of exams? All we ever do is cram some stuff up and go vomit it in the answer paper. Those who have better cramming capacity do well. Those who try to understand and apply it in real life suffer. And the industries?? They are in need of people who apply their knowledge, not a bunch of geeks. Anyway, I alone cannot change the exam pattern. So let me go CRAM.......