Karnataka first-year PU students to take tests at home to improve scores, here’s how the assessment is planned

A month after the Karnataka government decided to promote all first-year pre-university (I PU equivalent to Class 11) students without examinations, it has now decided to offer students a chance to improve their scores by attending assessment tests that can be taken from their homes, similar to how open-book exams are held.

Officials at the Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) said that model question papers would be uploaded to the department’s official website and that students will be allowed to download them, write answers and then send them to their respective evaluator by different means.

“Students can choose to take the assessment only if they seek to improve their scores from the universal 35% marks that are provided to all as they were promoted without exams this year due to the Covid-19 situation,” DPUE Director Snehal R told indianexpress.com.

She added that the government was keen to ensure that a uniform system of assessment and evaluation was devised. “We did not want to differentiate between students at government and private institutions, and also wanted to ensure different modes to submit the answer papers were offered to eliminate any divide based on the facilities each student could access at home,” she highlighted.

Further, as per the schedule issued by the Department, the first assignment — for which students are asked to answer model question paper-1 for each subject — should be completed and submitted to the concerned lecturer between June 10 and 20, after which the evaluation will be done till June 25.

Later, the second assignment should reach the lecturer between June 26 and July 5, for which assessment will be held till July 10. The total assessment — when the two assignments are evaluated and converted to the scores in the prescribed format — shall take place from July 11 to July 15. Lecturers have been directed to upload the final scores to the SATS portal from July 15 to 20.

When asked how students would be able to submit the answer scripts, Snehal explained that students could either take photos/scan them and send them via Whatsapp or email to the respective lecturer. “For students with no access to online facilities, they can also post them or meet the lecturer at college to submit them directly, as Covid-related restrictions are expected to be eased by then,” the DPUE Director added.

Further, DPUE officials said that each student would be informed of the system through an SMS sent to the mobile number against which the student registration is done already. “The SMS will include a link to the DPUE portal to access the model question papers. Every student will be informed of the same either by their lecturers or at least by their peers. The website has clear instructions on how to attend the assessments (including for those with practical components),” the official clarified.

DPUE officials also claimed that all PU colleges were informed to make special arrangements to ensure all students who chose to attend the assessments take the tests in a conducive environment.