State education boards to introduce code system

SNS,  KOLKATA, 20 MAY: From next year, examiners of Madhyamik and Higher Secondary will have no knowledge of the identity of the examinees as the state school education department has decided to introduce code system.

Hence examinees will write their names and roll numbers on the top sheet of the answer scripts, but that will not reach the examiners. Instead a code will be generated for each candidate and this will be their only identity.  "This is the national practice, followed by CBSE. So, we have decided to adopt it," said education minister Bratya Basu today after a meeting with Professor Kalyanmoy Ganguly, administrator of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) and Professor Muktinath Chatterjee, president of West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE).

This would make the evaluation process more transparent, thinks a section of academics, as the examiners will have no knowledge of candidate or the school they are come from.

At present, a candidate has to write his or her name, roll number and registration number on the top sheet.

Each school has a code number and the registration number of a candidate includes that school code.

"From last year, we have even excluded the school code from the registration number," said an official of the Higher Secondary council. But many teachers are of the opinion that names on the answer script increase chances of favouritism during evaluation.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations is also toeing the idea. "In ICSE and ISC, candidates don't write their names. But an index number is there from which the examiner can understand the city to which the candidate belongs," said Mr Nabarun Dey, principal of ICSE-affiliated Central Modern School.

The CBSE, on the other hand, follows the code system which is known as "fictitious identification number". "Candidates have their roll numbers. The board produces a set of fictitious numbers against these roll numbers," said Mrs Anindita Chatterjee, principal of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

But it is also being apprehended that this code process would take up much eventually delaying publication of results.

"There are around 18 lakh candidates for Madhyamik and HS, whereas national boards have lesser number of candidates. We are not sure whether the idea of code generation is at all feasible in the given infrastructure," said an official of school education department.  

The department is also mulling introduction of spot evaluation in Madhyamik and HS.

"This has not been finalised yet. We have just floated the proposal. The board and the council would give us their feedback within 15 days," said the education minister.