The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Personalised answer sheets on the anvil

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Saturday, Apr 05, 2008
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Personalised answer sheets on the anvil

Staff Reporter

Madras varsity move against exam malpractices

Plan to introduce the sheets for distance learning students in November
Answer booklet has only 36 sheets

CHENNAI: The University of Madras will begin the process of revamping its examination system with the introduction of personalised answer sheets for students sitting for their examination this summer.

Vice-Chancellor of the university S. Ramachandran told reporters here on Friday that the new answer sheets would prevent candidates from switching or chasing answer sheets, thereby minimising human error and preventing examination offences.

“The new sheets have a bar code which will be matched with the candidate’s examination card. The relevant sections will be torn out after the student completes the paper. This will prevent chasing of papers and not leave any room for malpractices,” he said.

Prof. Ramachandran said that although he did not want the system to be thought of as foolproof, he felt that it would minimise human error in marks entry and also guarantee the student that the paper was his or hers.

“We also plan to introduce the sheets for our distance learning students in November for the next semester end examinations. By then, we will also know whether these sheets have been successful with this batch of students” he said.

Students will have to note, however, that the answer booklet has only 36 sheets and students have to be able to complete their answers within this space.

“The number of sheets provided was based on statistical analysis. Not many students use more than 20 sheets. It helps us to minimise paper wastage,” he said.

Prof. Ramachandran said this was the first step in personalising the examination system to be more in tune with individual students needs.

“Other plans include introducing a continuous assessment process at the Post Graduate level with multiple answer question papers at the semester end to prove absorption of knowledge. Internationally, there is less emphasis placed on term end examinations and more on consistent performance. We hope to experiment with such techniques soon,” he said.

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