Sloppy evaluation: Student’s score leaps from 48 to 80

CHENNAI: After a legal battle, a student from Anna University who was denied marks in a re-evaluation mess-up was finally awarded more than 40 marks extra, which he deserved.

Originally, the student from Coimbatore secured an E grade — the least grade provided to students who score from 40 to 50 marks. Now he has been awarded a B grade (70-80 marks).

TOI on November 27 reported that the varsity evaluated two answer scripts of S Manimaran, a mechanical engineering student from a private engineering college affiliated to Anna University, incorrectly.

Manimaran was awarded 48 and 49 in his semester papers — dynamics of machines and heat & mass transfer. These were the only two papers in which he scored less than 50. Shocked, he obtained copies of his answer scripts paying Rs 300 per paper and cross-checked the content with his college faculty, using answer keys released by the university. An internal evaluation by his professors suggested he deserved more than 85 and 68 marks in the said subjects.

Based on this, Manimaran applied for a re-evaluation paying Rs 400, but saw no change in his grades. The incorrect evaluation had brought down his overall score to less than 80%, the minimum score required for admission into top foreign universities, according to TOI’s report.

Following this, he had approached the Madras high court seeking relief, which directed Anna University to re-evaluate the papers using two professors, independently. Based on the professors’ responses, the university has agreed in court to change the student’s grade from E to B. Advocates who appeared on behalf of the student, said, “Professors should be careful while evaluating students’ answer scripts. Not everybody can afford to spend on re-evaluating answer scripts or approach courts .”