Mumbai: The University of Mumbai (MU) has brought out a special video to train professors and staffers in the On Screen Marking (OSM) system. It is also conducting training sessions for professors to prevent blunders in the 481 exams to be held for the second term. The OSM, introduced in the first term of this academic year, had caused major chaos.
The MU is focusing on training professors after major blunders in the OSM led to delays in announcing results for 477 exams conducted in the first term, inconveniencing 4.65 lakh students who appeared for them. It had to pass students by awarding average marks to all after answer sheets went missing. Students are still awaiting results of their re-evaluations, though the second-term exam time table has been announced.
The university has now brought out a master plan and has altered software to reduce glitches. Nearly four lakh students are scheduled to appear in these 481 exams, including 1,36,879 students for 227 exams from the Science and Technology stream. Close to 1,73,670 students are to appear for the 78 tests in the Commerce stream and 94,188 students for the Arts stream.
The MU has already brought in major changes in the exam system, including refusing supplements to students in subsequent exams and steps to speed up scanning of answer sheets and the evaluation process. The number of scanning machines have been increased from 60 to 65, and the technical staff has also been increased from 200 to 250.