The board has saved nearly 48 lakh A4-size sheets and ₹2 crore since it went digital in the 2017-18 academic year. This was revealed during an audit undertaken to calculate money and papers saved last academic year. Officials are yet to collate data for the current 2018-19 academic year.
The green initiative has also proven to be more efficient and less labour-intensive. It has helped reduce the load on teachers. Earlier (2016-17), students and teachers were given OMR sheets to write down all details. Each student would fill up six such sheets over the year.
V. Sumangala, Director of the board, said the move was well received among several teachers who felt that their workload was drastically reduced. “At least one teacher in every school had to spend close to two months just to ensure that all the details provided by students were accurate. They would spend several days rectifying the errors to avoid mistakes,” she said.
This paperless route has been adopted even after the examination process, with the board deciding not to print marks on paper; instead it is made available online to teachers. Students who apply for a photocopy of their answer scripts now are sent the scanned copies. This has helped the board save 12.88 lakh papers (of the 48 lakh) and not spend on postage for regular snail mail. Several school managements are also happy with the new system as it has helped them avoid multiple visits to the board’s headquarters.
However, this has come at the cost of jobs. Staff strength of the board has reduced by around 10% and the department has decided not to fill the vacant posts.