The informed generation

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Gone are the days when a student who was in doubt over his entrance exam result had to follow a tedious procedure to get the answer sheet re-checked. The scenario changed after the implementation of the RTI Act in 2005.

The Act has since empowered citizens, especially higher education students, who are now using the tool extensively.
Apart from appointing a Public Information Officer (PIO) to each college, universities are now making changes in the admission process, so that their results are open to all. A while back, the optical response sheets (ORS) of IIT-JEE were made available on the website for students to see. This gave them an opportunity to approach JEE officials with any grievances like answers not evaluated or wrongly evaluated. “There was a good response from students and it’s clear that the process is benefiting them,” says GB Reddy, Chairman, JEE.
For Nishant Kaushik, an IIT-JEE high scorer, the transparent move has helped students by erasing doubts about their marks. “This time, all my friends checked their results online. They were satisfied and none went for re-evaluation. Students now have more confidence in the institution,” he says.
Another example of transparency came from Jamia Milia Islamia University when it announced that it would record the interviews for its AJK Mass Communication Research Centre courses. These interviews would be available to candidates if they file an RTI application. In a similar move, the answerkeys of Delhi Univer-sity’s Combined Journalism Entrance Test (CJET) were made available to candidates on a website for two days after the examination process was over.
“It is always better to know where a student went wrong in his paper, or interview,” says Arunabha Bhattacharya, a Jamia student doing an MA in Peace Building and Concept Analysis. Academic experts back the initiatives, but insist on drawing a line. “Students appearing for the CJET have the right to know about their answers. But in cases like Jamia recording the interviews, one needs to wait and see how the move has helped the
system. Objective exam results can be put in the public domain, but justifying the assessment of subjective exams becomes difficult,” says Deepak Pental,
former VC, Delhi University.
But students are not stopping here. “Such moves have been taken because of the demand. The next thing on our agenda is the verification of Class XII mark sheets so that one avoids cases of back-door entries and scams. We have already written to the vice chancellor regarding this,” says Ajay Chhikara, president, DUSU.