Answer sheet of student reveals totalling error in marking
21 Sep, 2013An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) with the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA), seeking her own answer sheets of English and Assamese answer scripts by Angana Saikia. Angana had secured an aggregate of 82.17 per cent marks in this year’s matric examination with very low score in English and Assamese. She secured 44 out of 80 in English (20 marks is for practical) and 75 in Assamese and applied for re-examination for both papers. The revaluation resulted in no change in her Assamese paper while her English score increased by 7 marks.
As she was not satisfied with the re-evaluation, she sought the copies of her answer scripts which revealed a totalling error of 10 marks in English. Further, it has been claimed that there were over 15 instances of non-marking and under-marking in the answer scripts of both papers. Totalling error in spite of checking at four levels has raised an uproar and the parents are planning to approach the Gauhati High Court and the Assam Human Rights Commission seeking legal redress against the board’s callousness.
Over 3.6 lakh candidates appeared in the matric examination this year. Such an error raises serious question about the credibility of the examination process as the mistakes in a paper which had been examined first by an examiner, then by a scrutiniser, then by a head examiner and finally re-checked could remain undetected. SEBA is said to be looking into the matter.
The Dilip Kumar Barua Committee has recently submitted its report to the government on the shortcomings of the board.