OU begins online evaluation of answer scripts

Hyderabad : For the first time ever in its 100 year history, Osmania University will switch to online evaluation of answer scripts of post graduate examinations doing away with the conventional manual evaluation.

The University has firmed up ties with an outside firm to undertake the bar coding and scanning of the answer scripts which will be uploaded on to the dedicated server in the Data Centre located in the Central Facilities for Research and Development on the campus. The varsity has put in place an online evaluation process for 80,000 answer scripts of the MBA second semester examinations to start with.

The coded and scanned answer scripts will be made online and access to the scanned scripts will be made available through the internet facility at the designated online evaluation centres that will come up in the jurisdiction limits of the varsity.

Using a special ID, password and an OTP, evaluators can access the 32-page answer script, evaluate and award marks. The marks awarded in a particular answer script will be totalled automatically by the system and sent to the main server. Nearly 30 to 60 answer scripts would be given to the evaluators on a daily basis in phases.

Once the process becomes success, the online evaluation would be extended to all under graduate and post graduate courses. The administration is of the view that online evaluation would help the varsity announce results faster, without errors, and also curb malpractices. The new system will help the varsity in retrieving information quickly, unlike in the traditional evaluation system. There are several other benefits too,” Prof. S Ramachandram, Vice-Chancellor OU

Earlier, in the manual evaluation system, every answer script had to be coded by professionals who are few in number. It was a time consuming process. OU will be the first in the State to introduce the online evaluation system,” Prof. Kumar M, Controller of Examinations, OU said.