An online plug to stop question paper leaks

Belgaum, April 5: Online delivery of question papers to affiliated colleges a mere 30 minutes before the scheduled time of examination introduced by Visvesvaraya Technical University (VTU) has yielded rich dividends and put an end to the threat of question papers getting leaked.

The university would extend question paper delivery online across the State, following the success of the system in Belgaum division, Vice-Chancellor H Maheshappa has said.

During the semester examination conducted by VTU in January, affiliated colleges in Belgaum division were supplied question papers online about 30 minutes prior to the scheduled time of the examination. The exercise proved successful as it eliminated printing, packing, transporting and keeping the questions papers secure.

“We expect many other varsities in the State to follow suit,” he said, as a measure to prevent leakage of question papers which was detected in the recent PUC examinations.

Printouts of question papers were generated in the presence of VTU personnel in the respective colleges and invigilators moved straight to the examination rooms.

Question papers were sent through secure network and all doubts regarding the leaks were eliminated. Passwords for downloading the question papers were made available to the receiving college during the last minute, the vice-chancellor said.

The university had made available high-speed printers to all the colleges wherein online question papers were delivered and the system would be expanded to all affiliated colleges.

It would instal virtual private network (VPN) line for all the affiliated colleges. Private line with good connectivity would also put an end to any technical glitches, he said.

Recently, the leak of second year Pre-university question papers created problems for the students. Online question paper delivery system would prove effective in putting an end to such practices, he said.

After the success of digital evaluation, the success of question paper delivery online would prove useful, Maheshappa said.