After two months of waiting ten students of GTU, who had applied under RTI, were
invited to view the answer sheets they had requested for.
Finally, Gujarat Technological University has taken the necessary
steps to make answer sheets available to the students. Ten students, who had appealed
under Right to Information Act, were called by the university to check their answer
sheets on Wednesday, 4th Jan, 2012.
Five of the students were of Bachelor of Engineering, one of Diploma Engineering,
two of MBA and two students of Bachelor of Pharmacy. Overall, the university had
to distribute 15 answer sheets among these students. A GTU source said, Ten students
had applied to see their answer sheets between September and October under RTI Act. But, we had declined the offer at that time. The applicants appealed and following
the Supreme Court order, we sent out letters for them to be present on Wednesday.
We had opted for the open method systems were they could check their original answer
sheets.
The students and parents were pleased by GTUs move. One of the parents Rohit Desai
said, often due to small mistakes by evaluators, the career path of the student
changes entirely. This system could ensure that evaluators remain alert while grading.
If they grade unfairly, they would be caught eventually. Saloni Dhawal, one of the
students present on Wednesday, said, I thought I had written the exam well but I
ended up scoring very low. I wanted to know if I had made mistakes or the evaluator
had. I am glad I can spot the mistakes and learn from them.
Vice Chancellor Akshai Aggarwal said, this facility is great for both the students
and faculty. But the problem is that it requires manpower to stay active. For universities
that have lakhs of students, this system is difficult to implement. For universities
with few students, the system can be put into practice easily. The number of students
applying is bound to increase as awareness of the system grows.
SC Ruled Pro RTI:
The Supreme Court ruled in August that students unhappy with their examination scores
class X and XII, entrance exam for professional courses as well as job recruitment
tests can take a look at their answer-sheets by moving an application under the
Right to Information Act. So far, only re-tabulation of marks was possible. Now,
the court has provided for re-evaluation of answer sheets, which will factor in
whether the examiner missed out on awarding marks for some answers.
Courtesy: Times of India
