Now examiners sweat over Class X exams!

*    Thanks to reforms, script evaluation taking three times longer

*    Cloud over SEBA’s claim to declare results one month earlier

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, May 9: With the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) putting in place a new answer script evaluation process, this year's HSLC examition was trickier for teachers appointed as examiners and scrutinizers. So much so that while in previous years, it took around 15 days to complete the evaluation of answer scripts, this year the process took nearly one and half month. This has cast doubts on SEBA's claims that it would be able to declare the results a month ahead of usual time.

Normally the results are declared in the last week of May or first week of June.

Around 4.2 lakh students have sat for the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and Assam High Madrassa examitions that ended on March 12.

Besides evaluating the answer script, an examiner this year had to fill up three additiol sheets – one Optical Mark Reader (OMR) sheet attached to the answer script, an extra tally sheet against each answer script and another OMR sheet for each bundle of twenty answer sheets.  

“Earlier, an examiner could evaluate up to 40 answer scripts a day. This year, they could hardly reach 15 scripts. On an average, every examiner could handle just 7-12 scripts,” said an examiner not wishing to be med.

The examinees this year were given new security features-ebled answer booklets as part of the SEBA’s examition reforms to eradicate malpractices and ensure zero-error evaluation and result declaration process.

For evaluation of answer scripts, zones have been created in the districts. Each evaluation centre has a head examiner. The scrutinizers and examiners work under him.

“The work load of the scrutinizers and examiners was too much. Besides, the additiol OMR and tally sheets, the examiner also had to write a comment against each question as to why that particular mark was given against the answer. The effect of the additiol burden was that the examiners did not do the actual work of evaluation as thoroughly as they used to do earlier,” rued an examiner.

Many examiners said they were initially clueless as to how to go about the evaluation, and it was only after a few days that they got the hang of it. “The SEBA should have conducted awareness and training sessions extensively before rolling out such reforms,” complained another examiner.

The examiners were also not happy that though their work has been multiplied manifold, yet their remuneration was only hiked from Rs 10 to Rs 14 per script.

An examiner could evaluate only about 200 scripts in total. “I spent around Rs 2,500 as expenses for conveyance and lunch for the 28 days of evaluation I did. But the remuneration I got was less than my expenses. If such is the case, no one will come forward for evaluation next year,” said a subject teacher who was appointed as an examiner.

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