GTU students shown answer sheets under RTI
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
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Thursday, January 05, 2012 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20120105201201050223092647d8736e7/GTU-students-shown-answer-sheets-under-RTI.html
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.
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 system were they could check their original answer sheets.”
The students and parents were pleased by GTU’s 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.”
Setbacks
Sources in GTU said, “The university has a student body of more than 5 lakh students. If even a mere 5 per cent of the students applied for the system, the time needed to retrieve their papers will be phenomenal. A multi-storeyed building and an extensive number of people will be needed to run the system in the future years.”
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 answersheets, which will factor in whether the examiner missed out on awarding marks for some answers.
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Thursday, January 05, 2012 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20120105201201050223092647d8736e7/GTU-students-shown-answer-sheets-under-RTI.html
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.
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 system were they could check their original answer sheets.”
The students and parents were pleased by GTU’s 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.”
Setbacks
Sources in GTU said, “The university has a student body of more than 5 lakh students. If even a mere 5 per cent of the students applied for the system, the time needed to retrieve their papers will be phenomenal. A multi-storeyed building and an extensive number of people will be needed to run the system in the future years.”
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 answersheets, which will factor in whether the examiner missed out on awarding marks for some answers.
