Indore: Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) commenced the last examination of 2023 with MBA second semester exams on Thursday. With the conclusion of this exam cycle, the university has set ambitious goals to address delays in the examination schedule and evaluation process, aiming for a smoother and timely academic year ahead.
In a significant move to prevent mishaps like the previous paper leaks, DAVV delivered question papers to the examination centres just an hour before the exam began, rather than the day prior.The MBA second semester exams were held from 11am to 2pm with the question papers being dispatched at 10am on the exam day.
To bolster examination oversight, the number of flying squads has been increased from 4 to 6. Around 7,000 students, including those who received ATKT (Allowed to Keep Terms) in their first semester, are appearing for the exam. Originally scheduled for September 12, the exam was postponed following student protests over insufficient preparation time between the first-sem results and the second-sem exams.
“With this last exam, we are now focused on bringing the examination calendar on track for the coming academic session,” said Dr Ashesh Tiwari, DAVV examination controller. Learning from the past, DAVV has made extensive efforts to address examination challenges. Earlier this year, the first-semester exams were marred by question paper leaks, resulting in only 30% of students passing. In response, DAVV has introduced new monitoring systems, including observers for the exam centres. The university conducts over 355 examinations annually, serving 258,000 students enrolled in its affiliated colleges.
On the evaluation front, DAVV has also taken significant steps to fast-track results. Alongside affiliated college faculty, 40 professors from UTD (University Teaching Departments) have been assigned the task of evaluating answer sheets, with plans to increase this to 100 evaluators. This shift aims to reduce the delay in results, which often disrupts the academic cycle.
“Although we have approximately 1,100 evaluators, this is the first time we are entrusting the responsibility of evaluation to the faculty of UTD, with the aim of improving the traditional evaluation process. This change will also help ensure that results are delivered on time. We have initially assigned 40 evaluators, and this number will soon be increased to 100,” added Tiwari.
As per the university’s examination calendar, the varsity plans to conduct the first semester exams for MA, MSc, and MCom courses, followed by MBA and BEd exams in October. If there are no legal issues regarding the recognition by the Bar Council of India (BCI), the LLB and BA LLB exams will also be held during this period. Meanwhile, the first-year exams for UG courses like BCom, BA, BSc, and BBA will take place in May 2025.