IT helps towards examinations system in Kerala

Aswathy Sreekumar


Thiruvananthapuram

In Kerala the secondary school leaving certificate exam results this year will come at least a week earlier than usual, certificates will look trendier with laser printer impressions and students will be able to know their total marks, the same day results are published. Kerala Government's mammoth exercise of evaluation and publication of results of over five lakh students will become less labor intensive and cumbersome thanks to the induction of IT for the first time in the examination system.

The tabulation of results has already started in the Pareeksha Bhavan here. 90 PCs, four servers, six laser printers and one line printer are supplementing human efforts. National Informatics Center (NIC) has developed the software required for the project and also oversees the implementation of the project. 

Computerization would definitely lead to more accuracy, speed, prevent premature leakage of marks, prevent faking of certificates and enable quicker verification of certificates, according to V P Joy, Director of Public Instruction (DPI). 

This will also enable government to save valuation cost for secondary school exams which is currently estimated at Rs 3.5 crore annually. Government has so far invested Rs 1 crore for computerization of Pareeksha Bhavan, Joy added. This capital cost can be recovered in year thanks to be cost savings effected by computerization.

There are over 18 records to be filled in the data field of a student and details of over 72 lakh answer sheets have to be entered in the computer. Data entry operators have been specially deployed for the purpose in various evaluation centers. But the number of teachers required for overseeing the evaluation has been brought down from 800 to 100 thanks to the induction of IT, Joy added. 

Employees in Pareeksha Bhavan had to be trained in computer operations and creation of data base of the 5.75 lakh students started right from November last year onwards. 

The results will simultaneously be made available on the websites of education department the day the results are published. This will enable even students who have appeared from examination centers in the Gulf to know the results instantaneously. From now on results would be stored on CDs, which will enable the department to verify certificates and issue duplicates as and when needed without delay. Now it takes over 2 years for verification of old certificates and issue of duplicate certificates.

Kerala's secondary school examination is unique even in the Asian continent as now where else five lakh students appear for a school examination together. Over 15,000 teachers are involved in the evaluation of 72 lakh answer papers. Over 48 evaluation centers are set up in various parts of the state. Even in the pre-computerization era, the state had a good track record of publishing results on May 27 every year without default. With computerization, Kerala's school leaving exams are poised for even more accuracy and punctuality.