Exam season is a testing time not just for students but also for Bangalore University (BU).
In the recent past, anonymous calls from the public on affiliated colleges indulging in exam irregularities have exposed skeletons in the BU’s closet. While question papers being leaked is heard of, for BU, the battle to secure the post-exam process is the hardest.
Tighten control
The most recent case of blank answer scripts of New Horizon College, Marathahalli, being found in a bar has exposed the colleges laxity in handling students’ academic future. The varsity has learnt that the answer scripts were wrapped in a yellow cloth cover, which is usually in the possession of the principal or the superintendent of exams of the college.
In an earlier instance reported from BNM Degree College, Banashankari, the principal was involved in sneaking out answer scripts post-exams to facilitate some students to make corrections and additions.
Affected by many such instances, the BU has been forced to tighten control over colleges after exams are conducted. BU Registrar (Evaluation) Ninge Gowda K.N. told The Hindu that measures will be introduced before the next exams.
This includes ensuring that the colleges update details of absentees immediately after an exam begins. This way, the varsity can determine how many answer scripts remain, Prof. Gowda said. In addition, answer scripts will be deposited at the BU’s evaluation centre on the same day. “We will give a time frame to deposit the answer scripts depending on the distance of the college from the university. Earlier, some centres would cite reasons and deposit them the next day,” he said.
Ferrying answer scripts The BU will also make it mandatory for the answer scripts to be brought only by car (they were being ferried in autos and even two-wheelers before). A senior professor will be given an identity card by the BU to bring them. The BU is also trying to ensure that a cluster of colleges serve as exam centres instead of thousands of students being given the same centre. Henceforth, students will be given only one answer booklet of 40 pages each for each exam, as against the earlier practice of being given additional sheets.
