Class 12 board exams evaluation may go online if shutdown extends

Though the Directorate of Examinations had earlier planned to start evaluations of Class 12 answer scripts from April 7, the Centre’s decision to shut down all activities for three weeks put breaks on the plan.

Considering how crucial Class 12 board exams are for the students who are to join higher education streams, initial discussions are on to explore the possibility of online evaluation if the total shutdown is extended beyond the original schedule, a senior official from the School Education Department told DT Next.

At present, only a few State-run institutions like Alagappa University have initiated digital evaluation, which was done after fraudulent attempts in re-evaluation process was detected at Anna University.

The official added that authorities would hold discussions with IT companies on implementing automated examination processes (digital evaluation procedure) through enterprise solution.

The online process would include scanning and digitalisation of answer scripts in a particular format for evaluation and providing provisions to evaluators to allocate marks.

“This procedure would maintain database of all courses and subjects, and will allocate answer booklets for evaluation on a daily basis,” he said. Also, network-based computer system would have answer booklets for correcting the answer scripts through computer.

The official pointed out that digital evaluation of lakhs of answer sheets was not easy unlike at the university level, because the number of students appearing for semester exams is less compared to candidates appearing for State board exams. 

Welcoming this plan,Tami Nadu Teachers Association President P K Ilamaran said it would not only ensure transparency but also reduce the work teachers.