The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University has moved to online evaluation of answer scripts from this year.
The decision was announced by the University’s Vice Chancellor S. Geethalakshmi in 2016 following which a pilot project was taken up last year.
The university receives as many as 3.5 lakh answer scripts for evaluation every semester. Not only would online evaluation speed up the process but would also help minimise errors while correcting the scripts, said Registrar T. Balasubramanian.
The software was developed by an outside agency but the server is located in the university and uses the intranet facility. Once the answer scripts are received they are scanned and uploaded on the server. The computer will automatically generate random numbers for each answer script.
Quick process
When the evaluation was done manually the university required a month to complete the process. But now the process can be completed in 10 days, Dr. Balasubramanian explained.
“Earlier there was only one session in a day and this delayed the correction process. Now, we have two shifts where examiners will come at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. When they start evaluating the papers the answer keys will be displayed alongside the answer sheets. This will minimise the possibility of errors,” he said.
The software is built in such a way that when a candidate is found to have failed it will automatically go for a re-valuation. “The computer will simultaneously carry out evaluation when a candidate has failed. This is done to ensure that there are no errors,” Dr. Balasubramanian said.
The system has a built in mechanism to check examiners from skipping pages. Only after the answer to a question is evaluated will the answer key for the next answer appear. Another advantage of the online process is that it makes it easier to calculate the remuneration for evaluators.
When students call for copies of their corrected answer scripts it is easy to recall them as they are stored online. “The university offers 600 courses and for 290 days some exam or the other is on. The system is foolproof and will be continuously in use,” the Registrar said.
