In the 21st century, most exams have shifted from pen and paper mode to online mode. This is due to the faster and more reliable internet and personal computers, that have emerged over the years. Yet board exams, which have one of the highest numbers of candidates participating in it, are still held via pen and paper mode. Various central and state boards conduct 10th and 12th boards every year. Due to the lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, results of boards like mp board 12th result 2020 have yet not been declared. Had these exams been conducted online, they would have been evaluated by now.
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of online examinations:
PROS:
- Saves Paper: Paper is manufactured from trees and hence using less paper can lead to a greener world, reducing global warming, preventing ozone layer depletion, etc.
- Faster to evaluate: Let’s face it, online examinations can be evaluated by the machine itself for objective type questions. Even, evaluation of subjective questions is easier as the examiner doesn’t have to handle a huge bundle of copies. The results for boards would be declared much faster in that way and examiners can evaluate copies from their homes even in this lockdown. For example, MPboard 12th result 2020 would have been declared by now had the boards been conducted online.
- Saves money: Conducting exams online saves the money which would otherwise be spent on printing of question papers and answer sheets and then the money is again spent on transporting them across the various examination centers and back.
- Less chance of cheating: There’s a large question bank from which random questions appear on every candidate’s screen. This minimizes the risk of cheating that is easier to do in offline mode which has the same questions and question order for every candidate.
CONS:
- A dearth of examination centers: As of present, India doesn’t have the number of online examination centers that will be required to conduct the examination on such a large scale. Schools, many times, lack the infrastructure required to conduct examinations online.
- Students might face difficulty: Students in India are mostly taught via pen and paper and they find it easier to take their examinations in the same way. Shifting to an online examination pattern will take some practice for them to get well-versed with it.
- Internet Breakdown: If the internet is interrupted or the server breaks down, which might happen when so many students are using it at the same time, the examination will be interrupted leading to problems. This is also a kind of infrastructural limitation.
What is The Solution Then?
The best solution, for now, seems to be giving the institutions and/or students to choose their preferred mode of taking the boards. Thus, those with required resources will take the exams online while those lacking the infrastructure or experience for conducting online examinations can opt for pen-paper based examinations. This will also work as kind of a closed beta testing for their online mode with more and more institutions accepting the online mode of examination as time progresses.
Conclusion:
Examinations will exist as long as education does. With time, the examination process also needs to keep up with the changing technological landscape. Online examinations are in line with the way teaching is evolving. As online and smart classes become the norm, so should online examinations. This system makes the process faster, more streamlined, and easily accessible. Many competitive exams are held online now. There were similar criticisms to them adopting the online mode. People even feared that hackers might be able to get in the system, but time proved that these systems can be made tamper-proof. There were some problems in the beginning but most have sorted out by now. If the boards work with those who have been conducting online exams (competitive exams), the implementation might be easier than it seems. Sure, this mode won’t be feasible everywhere. In that case, giving institutions and students the option to choose their preferred mode of examination seems to be the best way to go about it. There will be some problems that will be faced along the way, but every problem comes with a solution. With time, the conduction of boards online will become smoother.
