The authorities of the University of Mumbai has decided to award bonus marks to 1,600 students to compensate them for misplaced answer sheets by the examination department. Until the last minute, the varsity was unable to trace the missing answer sheets, and most of these missing answer sheets were from the Commerce stream. Students, majorly studying in Commerce colleges in Maharashtra have been severely affected by this lapse. Some students from Arts colleges in Mumbai & Science colleges in Mumbai have also suffered because of this lapse.
Also Read: Mumbai University: Chancellor's Opinion on ‘On Screen Assessment’ was Ignored
The Board of Examination of Mumbai University has taken the decision in this regard last week. The norms for awarding bonus marks for the missing answer sheets will be finalised by October 3, 2017. According to sources, the varsity might consider the marks scored in the other subjects for awarding bonus marks. Simply, the varsity is expected to award marks equal to the average scored by the students in other subjects.
Also Read: Mumbai University (MU) might Retain ‘On Screen’ Assessment for Future Exams
On the other hand, the examination department has also decided to go ahead with ‘On Screen’ assessment for the next semester. The contract with the MeritTrac, the existing IT partner for the ‘On Screen’ assessment is for one year.
The new assessment system introduced by the University of Mumbai created a lot of mess, and it was the reason for the misplaced answer sheets. Even though the varsity faced numerous issued due to the OSM or On Screen Marking system, the authorities had no other plans for replacing the newly introduced system with the older system of assessment of answer sheets. The varsity will rectify the mistakes, and upgrade the software for the better implementation of OSM. However, a section of teachers was against the OSM since they were not acquainted with it in an effective manner.