New University exams controller promises clean-up

The new exams controller of Mumbai University has promised to clean up the flaws in the system and make the examination process less cumbersome for students.

Dinesh Bhonde, who took charge of his new responsibility on Saturday, said that although much of the process was online there were still too many forms to be filled and submitted and this required to be changed.

Bhonde, who was exam controller of the Nagpur-based Yashwantrao Chavan Open University, pointed to question paper leaks and the delay in declaring results as two of the major issues that required to be resolved.

"Examinations is a project for me. It will take some time to learn how the system works in the university. It won't be possible to make changes all of a sudden. One would have to design the system by removing the lacunae and this could take about a year," the new exam controller said.

Before his nearly three-year stint with the open university, Bhonde was with the state board for technical education for seven years and spent six years as exam controller with an autonomous polytechnic.

"Mumbai University students submit examination forms online. But why should they have to submit separate forms for examinations," he asked. Bhonde explained that his experience in handling exams for 30 lakh students of the open university would help him to improve things for Mumbai University students.

This may require the digitization of all student records, from admission to convocation.

"It is good that the university has started delivering question papers to colleges online. But, similarly, the process from appointment of the paper setter to generation of the question paper should also be secured to prevent leaks," Bhonde said. "My job is to make the system easy."