One joke that really amazed me during my childhood was, “Stop Exams, Save Papers”. As a kid, I always took this joke lightly but now I feel that we are indeed wasting papers by writing our examination because after these papers are checked, they are of no use! So instead of writing our exams on paper, why can’t we have them online?

From student’s point of view, ours is a tech slave generation! We love technology and not even 0.1% of us will have any issue if this whole system of conducting exam goes online. Secondly, having exams online isn’t a new thing. Many big courses like MBA, MS, M.Tech conduct their entrance exams (CAT, GRE, GATE, etc.) online. Students who are attracted to study overseas are pretty much aware that most of their exams in the States are conducted online.

With over 4 papers leaked last year, engineering field witnessed one of the biggest question mark regarding security of our exam papers. Few first year papers were even rescheduled. The re-examination just added stress. This leak was a result of including a third person between paper setters and the main department. Online examination will eliminate this third person’s risk. The paper setter can directly send the paper to the respected department without having to worry about paper leak.

Being a student, I know how crucial time factor is during examination. We are always under pressure of completing our paper in time and on top of this we have to cover all the main points while jotting down answers. The chances are high that we’ll miss few of the key points while answering a theory question. If examination goes online, this pressure will also reduce up to a great extent. Instead of writing long answers, we can have MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) which will not only save our time but will also reduce our efforts that we put in writing exams.

From teacher’s side, the precious time that they put in while correcting our papers, will reduce tremendously. Not only this, many times, mostly after students get their photocopy for KT subjects, cases arise where couple of questions remain unchecked. We cannot blame teachers for this because even they are humans. When a person is under pressure to check 100+ papers, s/he may slip a question by mistake. But in case of online examination, this loophole can be easily covered because scrutinizing of questions will be done via computer and, computer is a machine. Unlike human, it’s marking ability is much more reliable and errorless than a human’s marking ability. With this, the probability of making error while checking or skipping a question will be almost negligible.

In terms of storage as well, this facility will prove to be really good. It is common sense that storing millions of paper physically requires a large area/room as compared to storing same amount of paper on servers. There are many tools that are freely available which enables you to create and take tests online. These tools also ensure that students can take mock tests before actually appearing for main exams as this will help them to get used to the online environment.

Out of a vast ocean, these are just a few drops that I have taken out. Conducting exams online will not only be beneficial for student but will also ensure reduction in work of teachers and a step towards modernising Indian education system.

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