On the backdrop of exam paper leakages in Maharashtra in recent years, a committee was set up by the Governor of Maharashtra under the chairmanship Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary IT, Government of Maharashtra to provide recommendations to leverage ICT for secure delivery of examination papers. The committee which has vice chancellors, deans and comptrollers of examinations of various prominent universities across Maharashtra as members, recently presented its draft report on social media inviting suggestions from public.
The committee has recommended quality of services should be improved by introducing services through online web portal, computerized counters at college or university, mobile , helpdesks , Common Service Centers, other online platforms and online availability of information. It has also recommended dematerializing of degrees and certificates along with digital Scanning and on-screen evaluation of answer sheets, online application for reevaluation. “Every University shall adopt ICT for online student registration for examinations from academic year 2013-14 with pilot projects beginning by first half of 2013. Student registration for examination should be done online so to automate hall ticket generation process and making it more accurate,” the draft report says.
The committee has proposed issuance of guidelines for creation of unique ids for students across the state to ensure easier migration of students between universities. It has suggested creation of question bank or question paper bank for setting universities exam papers. For ensuring quality and systematic generation of question or question paper banks, paper setters should be provided training and orientation and certain number of questions should be replaced every year to keep in pace with rapid changes in the learning environment.
To prevent leakages and malpractices related to exam papers, the committee has asked universities to adopt IT solution based on encryption and secured transmission so that the exam paper will be available only an hour before the exam. The committee has also suggested autonomy for colleges and institutions attaining ‘A’ grade status and with proven academic record and examination conducting reputation for conducting their own examinations and designing their own methods of assessments. Universities should evolve proper supervisory capacity to ensure proper conduct of examinations by such colleges.
