Speak up Mumbai: Students bear the brunt but varsity plans a repeat

The state government on Friday gave a green signal to the University of Mumbai to continue with its On-screen Marking (OSM) system for the upcoming winter semester exams that begin from the first week of November.

The system, which was introduced in January this year, came under the scanner as its poor implementation led to an unprecedented delay in the declaration of results this year — with over 3,000 students still awaiting their results, more than six months since the exams.

Even as Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, former Vice-Chancellor of the University, under whose leadership the system was introduced was removed from his position on October 24, the varsity has decided to go ahead with the marking system.

DNA spoke to students of the University to find out whether they think the decision is a good idea — adopting a system that led to delays, creating obstacles in the careers of several students — with many having to lose their higher education and job opportunities, as their results didn't come in time for their application deadlines. It also resulted in the 160-year-old university damaging its reputation.

The On-screen Marking system has created hurdles in the academic careers of thousands of students like me whose results are yet to be declared, over six months after the exams. The university should seriously rethink its decision to continue using the mechanism, considering the risks involved in its shoddy implementation.
—Shaheena Usmani, Sociology student

The idea was a good one — had it been implemented in a phased manner, it would have given great results. The aim was to do away with middle-men — that had been leading to unfair practices for a long time. My suggestion would be that the system should be scrapped and continued in a proper manner after the required training is given to employees and professors.
—Purvi Mundhra, MA student

I think the Mumbai University should discontinue the On-screen Marking system for papers. As wise as the decision to employ this technology was, it has led to chaos. The university has to realise that having resources isn't enough — they have to be allocated and implemented justly as well. The declaration of the results this year has far extended the mandated deadline, more than once, and the delay in results has unfairly affected a lot of students.
—Afreen Noor, Law student

When you try and change an age-old tradition overnight, it is bound to backfire. The Mumbai University tried to implement an advanced system and expected their traditional teachers to become tech-savvy within a couple of months without the proper knowledge, resources or infrastructure. This paved the way for the university's failure. No doubt that reform is needed but provided you at least have the basics clear.
—Kunal Parmar, Media student

Initially it was a good idea to implement the On-screen Marking system of evaluation but if it is not well synchronised and managed, the entire exercise makes no sense. If you are deciding to make use of technology, there has to be an advancement and improvement in the way things are executed as well. If it is not leading to better results than a system which was used in the past, it does not make sense to implement such a system again.
—Mariyam Kachwala, BCom student

Giving the green signal to the system yet again and continuing with the same agency, MeritTrac, is a potential nightmare for students who will be appearing for the upcoming exams in the winter session. The evaluation system should be put on hold until there is a comprehensive probe into what led to the entire mess with results in the previous semester. If this fiasco repeats again, students will lose faith in the university altogether which may lead to bigger issues.
—Akhil Oka, MA student

After the mess created by the new system, the university should not take further risk and get into another mess. The delay in results has affected almost all students and no student will want to go through that again. The university lags behind in technological aspects. It should understand the technology and its usage before going ahead with it again. Until then, the university's decision remains futile.
—Bharati Vaidya, MA student

In my opinion, only if the government is confident that the University of Mumbai will not goof up and repeat the results mess that took place last semester should the university go ahead with implementing the evaluation system for the coming exams. However, if it is going to put in jeopardy mine and other students' academic year and career, then it is not worth it. Students work very hard to prepare for their exams and they deserve to get their results in time.
—Neha Gori, BA student

EXPERT SPEAK

The decision to continue with the On-screen Marking system for the upcoming exams in November could prove to be a huge risk. The university still doesn't seem to be prepared to handle the glitches associated with a project of this magnitude. If the same mistakes with respect to evaluation are repeated, students would suffer yet again and the university's reputation would further go for a toss.

—AD Sawant, Former pro-VC, University of Mumbai

The OSM system is a big reform in the evaluation system — it would have been better if the University had implemented it in a phase-wise manner. For a university that offers 477 subjects to over 4 lakh students — subjects with fewer students should be evaluated using the OSM initially, until it is tested and becomes error-free. One can then graduate to introducing the system to more subjects.

—Vaibhav Narawade, Secretary, Mumbai University and College Teachers Association