From a pass percentage of 40.01% in 2018, Nagpur Universitys BA Final Year results went up to 94.17% and 87.96% in the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 respectively, when exams were held online.

Data of evaluation outcomes obtained by The Indian Express from Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), Nagpur University and Mumbai University use a measure of the inflated results as some departments such as SPPUs Law faculty tape-recorded a 72% jump in pass percentages in between 2018 and 2021– a trend thats most likely to be mirrored throughout the country as examinations moved online during the pandemic.

Savitribai Phule Pune Universitys (SPPU) Law Faculty semester-end tests, thought about amongst the toughest of all faculties in the universities, taped a pass portion of 20.86% in the pre-pandemic year of 2018. That increased to 93.08% in 2021, when examinations were held online.

In a minimum of three of the most significant universities in Maharashtra, which together account for over 15 lakh trainees, pass percentages have seen big jumps over the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, causing instructors, principals and university authorities raising doubts over the integrity of online assessments.

Throughout the final examinations of 2021, Mumbai Universitys undergraduate programs recorded pass percentages of 93.21 for the Arts stream, 94.5 for Commerce and 74.44 for Science. According to universitys Director of Board of Examinations and Evaluation, Vinod Patil, a surge of approximately 20% in the pass portions has been witnessed throughout all three streams because the pandemic.

Pass portions in Pune University

Because the summer season of 2020, when the lockdown was imposed and exams and classes were quickly moved online, universities have struggled to put in location screening infrastructure, consisting of means of surveillance to make sure fair practices. Also, universities moved to a totally online MCQ-based (multiple option questions) test to evaluate trainees.

Saying offline examinations are the only practical way to determine the performance of trainees, Mahesh Kakade, Director, Board of Examinations and Evaluation, SPPU, said, “When the online method of evaluation was deployed for very first time, there were videos being flowed on social networks mentor trainees how to cheat, to take the exam in groups and so on.”

“Maintaining the sanctity of tests and holding an evaluation of the outcomes are the task of the universities. If an emergency scenario like Covid emerges, they can take online tests. Now, many universities will be moving to taking offline exams,” he said.

By December 2021, a lot of state universities had actually begun preparing for on-campus examinations however as Covid-19 cases of the Omicron version began increasing, on January 7 this year, a government resolution directed all non-agricultural, personal, considered, technical and professional universities and their affiliated colleges to carry out tests just in the online mode. While many universities are yet to go back to the on-campus examination mode, a couple of autonomous institutes have gone ahead and revealed offline examinations, mentioning amongst other things, practical and accurate evaluation.

Patil of Mumbai University is persuaded the rise in outcomes is simply because of the MCQ nature of the test. “There was online proctoring which did not leave room for cheating,” he stated.

While stating there can be no going back on the examinations that have already been conducted online, SPPU Vice Chancellor Nitin Karmalkar stated offline examinations are the only method forward. “Even lectures have actually resumed in universities and colleges so now we require to revert to the traditional pen-paper technique of evaluations as an instant service. The MCQ-based nature of the online mode of examinations lends itself to unrealistic pass portions, which can be fixed by going back to offline exams. As a long term service, we need to carry out a choice-based credit system, where continuous evaluation of the trainees takes place.”

Prafulla Sable, Director, Board of Examinations and Evaluations, Nagpur University, too, said the shift to online testing included its set of surveillance issues for the university. “In the initial days of the pandemic, when we carried out online exams for the very first time, it took us by surprise as we werent prepared. We even heard stories of students taking the examinations in groups.”

At Nagpur University, 18,452 students stood for their BA final-year examinations in the summer of 2018 and 8,201 in the summertime 2019, both composed tests in pre-Covid times, when the total passing portion stood at 40.01 per cent and 61.57 percent respectively. The pass portions went up to 94.17% in 2020 and 87.76% in 2021. This is a pattern thats real of all professors in the university– a sign of the falling stature of evaluations over the last 2 years as tests browsed the web.

He included that the university managed to soon capture up, investing in technological interventions to guarantee tidy exams. At Nagpur University, 18,452 trainees appeared for their Bachelors degree final-year tests in the summertime of 2018 and 8,201 in the summer 2019, both composed exams in pre-Covid times, when the general passing percentage stood at 40.01 per cent and 61.57 per cent respectively. “Maintaining the sanctity of exams and holding a review of the outcomes are the job of the universities. Now, a lot of universities will be moving to taking offline examinations,” he said.

University teachers and officials state the shift to MCQ-based question papers might have likewise added to a rise in pass percentages.

For the May 2021 examinations, likewise held online, 1.66 lakh appeared, of whom 2,297 students failed– a pass percentage of 98.61%. Before the exams went online due to the pandemic, the typical pass percentage of the exact same faculty never ever surpassed 70 per cent for at least a decade.

The principal of a college connected to Mumbai University said on condition of privacy, “With the online exams, the pattern moved from subjective questions to unbiased ones. While it was much easier for the students, there was no space for the teachers evaluation-based scoring, which factored in the students understanding of the topic on which she is being checked.”

While saying there can be no going back on the examinations that have actually currently been carried out online, SPPU Vice Chancellor Nitin Karmalkar stated offline tests are the only method forward.

He included that the university managed to quickly capture up, purchasing technological interventions to ensure clean tests. “We utilized artificial intelligence and sensor technology and began catching malpractices. Our technology began catching images of trainees using other devices, going missing from the screen and switching windows on their computer systems. The technology likewise recorded movements of others in the space. We captured over 1,100 trainees cheating in the October 2021 evaluations,” he stated.

Information of exam results from the three state universities show why their issues arent completely off the mark.

” The nature of the evaluation is such that in an MCQ-based question paper, even if students select any random alternative, theres a likelihood of getting passing marks at least,” said Kakade.