Delhi University to decentralize examination process

Updated on: Wednesday, September 28, 2011

After handing over five of its postgraduate commerce, finance and management programmes' entrance exams to the IIM conducted Common Admission Test (CAT), Delhi University is further planning to decentralised the examination process by entrusting the departments and faculties in conducting and managing their own exams for all the postgraduate courses. Apart from easing the exam branch's pressure so that it can focus more on the undergraduate semester exams, the administration is also saying that decentralised of exam process will expedite the process as well as make it more efficient and transparent.

While in the 2010-2011 academic session the entrance test for courses like Masters of Business Economics, Masters of Finance and Control, Masters of International Business and Masters of Human Resource and Organisational Development were handed over to CAT, this year the university scrapped the entrance test conducted by the Faculty of Management Studies for admission to its full-time MBA programmes.

Last Saturday a meeting of the heads of faculties and departments was convened where exam reforms was discussed and the DU administration stated that even for other postgraduate exams (not entrances) the departments will be entrusted with the responsibility of the same.

Dean, examinations, R C Sharma said: "Primarily the idea is to decentralize the whole process so as to expedite it. This will benefit the students as the results will be declared on time. Moreover, the Supreme Court in a judgement said that the students can ask to see their answer sheets under RTI Act. Instead of the exam branch storing such a huge number of answer sheets, it will be easier for the departments to handle them. Moreover, it will also ease some pressure from the exam branch." Sharma said that even now most of the exam works are done at department level.

Meanwhile, those courses which admitted students based on CAT score said that the change has reflected in over all qualitative improvement. According to head of the commerce department, Dr K V Bhanumurthy, "The MIB and MHROD were the first course under my department to have joined CAT and we have seen the positives. One major gain has been the qualitative differences. The average CAT score of the admitted students is 95 percentile. The students are more homogeneous now. And we are now bracketed with some of the best B-schools. Earlier our courses have been grossly undervalued. The challenge however is to now improve our pedagogy and delivery as we have comparatively better students, who are motivated and focused."

"Another advantage is that many of our students now have work experience, which will definitely boost our placement performances in the years to come," added Bhanumurthy. An exercise which started as to help ease the exam branch as the semester system has added additional pressure has probably resulted as a boon for these postgraduate courses in getting quality students.

Times of India

Delhi University to decentralize examination process

More Education news