KOLKATA: Thirty minutes after board examinees finish writing their term one papers, the CBSE will release answer keys and school principals will have to ensure that the OMR sheets are corrected and marks uploaded on the CBSE portal the same day.
This was among the announcements made by Sanyam Bhardwaj, the board’s controller of exams, at a virtual meeting with school heads and district/city co-ordintors on Saturday. This is the first time that such speedy same-day corrections will be done.
Though the corrections and uploading of marks will be done in schools, the OMR sheets will have to be parcelled to the board the same day for random cross-checking.
The corrections will be done by the teachers under the supervision of external observers appointed by the board. Each evaluator will be given 30 OMR sheets and the evaluation is to be done between 1:45 pm and 4 pm. The answer keys will be sent at 1 pm. It is not necessary for subject teachers to correct relevant OMR sheets. The marks will have to be uploaded on the CBSE portal between 4 pm and 4:30 pm.
“I call this design-thinking. The board exam this time feels like any national-level competitive exam. Writing to uploading of marks will just take a few hours,” said Koeli Dey, principal of Sushila Birla Girls School.
Meena Kak, director of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy felt this was fool-proof planning. “In these Covid times, one cannot delay anything. Introducing OMR sheets in board exams is indicative of how short and sharp processes are expected to be now,” she said.
The board has also asked schools to open up multiple rooms and ensure that only 12 candidates are seated in a room to ensure distancing. It has asked schools to distribute mock OMR sheet test papers among examinees from Monday.
“Last year’s situation of average marking led to many a heartbreak. This year, at least board examinees will be able to write an exam and earn the marks they deserve. We can only heartily accept the new CBSE X and XII format,” said Vijaylakshmi Kumar, principal of Asian International School.
