Education board saves 70% time with OMR exam forms

Updated on: Friday, November 25, 2011

Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Education's steps towards digitalization have already yielded the first benefit. The board has finished scanning examination application forms for std XII in Nagpur region, and is expected to wind up the process for std X shortly.

TOI had reported last month about the board's decision to introduce Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) forms as part of the process for SSC and HSC exams. Anil Pardhi, Nagpur divisional secretary of the board, said, "We are witnessing a huge saving in man-hours by going digital. Earlier, the entire process of collecting data entered in the application forms would take about 45 days but now are looking to wind up things within 15 days. We have saved 70% of our time due to the innovative steps taken by our board."

Earlier, the forms would be filled by students and the board would photo scan them. But there still remained the process of entering partial numerical data into the computers manually. With OMR forms all the data is accounted for by the computer itself and entered into special software which is readily usable by the board.

"The process of scanning of forms from our region is going on in the city itself and is progressing well. The forms for std XII have already been scanned and we have not received any complaint. Now work is already at an advanced stage for std X and the board is confident that the entire process will be completed without any hiccup," said Pardhi.

So far this is good news for the board which was very anxious on how the new system will work. With the majority of students, especially in rural areas, having never encountered an OMR form there were concerns over incorrect data being entered. The school principals were given the responsibility to ensure that the forms are error free.

This is one of the first steps towards complete digitalization of the examination process for the board. There are plans to ultimately accept fee payments online as well which will reduce the manual work considerably.

Speaking to TOI earlier, Chandramani Borkar, divisional chairman of the board, said, "The number of people involved and the tasks that each of our employees have to do is enormous. To go and collect forms from schools and colleges, to then enter the data in our records involved a massive effort. Once we are fully online in a couple of years the entire process will be scrapped and manpower will be utilized somewhere else productively," said Borkar.

Times of India

Education board saves 70% time with OMR exam forms

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