Anna varsity logs on to automated exam system

BANGALORE, INDIA: The examination process right from announcing the examination dates till issuing mark sheets is noting less than a Herculean task for the universities. Especially when examination malpractices – from question paper leakage to mark list tampering - have become common things.

In this context, it is a great challenge for any university to conduct the examination securely without any controversies.

But how?

Anna University Coimbatore, an affiliated university in Tamil Nadu, says the answer lies in technology and it has found a solution by deploying an integrated examination management system (IEMS) by Mindlogicx, a provider of knowledge management solution.

This system not only automates complete examination life cycle but also acts as a solution to fight malpractices.
Question paper leakage, a major problem for the universities is usually caused when the paper gets in to the wrong hands. With IEMS the problem is solved as the question papers are generated by the system without any human intervention.

The faculty will just add required question in the question bank database of the system. The system chooses the questions from it and generates the question paper.

A secret authentication code will be provided to the authorized personnel just one hour prior to the commencement of examination for printing the papers.

The framework also has a process that encompasses the management of examinations that are online or offline.

IEMS has a solution even for preventing the tampering of certificate. Global Access Codes (GAC) are assigned to each certificate and are randomly generated, non-sequential and alpha-numeric and can produce 131 quadrillion codes per prefix which makes it extremely difficult for anyone to deduce codes to thwart the system.
The university believes this will effectively solve the fake mark sheets and fake degree certificates problems once for all and give complete piece of mind to the academic administrators.

R.Radhakrishnan, vice chancellor, Anna University, said, “By outsourcing the examination management system most of our operational, logistics, student and staff problems are solved. This showcases the power of technology by managing the examination processes virtually.”

Anna University's first examination through IEMS was conducted on December 1 and is currently used by seventy thousand first and second year students. It is estimated that the figure can go over 1.5 lakh if the project is catered to all the students from first year to fourth year.

Under a five year agreement the university pays Mindlogicx Rs75 per student per examination that is deducted from the examination fees.

Each student will be provided with a user-ID and password to log in to the system, so that one can get exam timetable, hall tickets, results wherever the person maybe.

Dashboards are also provided for the students to evaluate their position individually right from the starting term and prepare accordingly.

As part of the implementation, Mindlogicx has set up a Network Operating Centre (NoC) in the university campus and examination data center for other colleges in various districts under the university.

The project is implemented in 110 colleges spread across eight districts of Tamil Nadu wherein the university and the colleges are networked through VPN.

“This has been the first automation in the entire life cycle of examination management system,” comments N. Somasundaram, senior vice president, product engineering, Mindlogicx.

“The solution is entirely automated, covering most of the requirement including hardware, software, bandwidth etc, that will help the universities addressing their pain points more effectively.”

Anna University is planning to conduct the online examination process by the year 2010.

This is the first solution deployed by Mindlogicx for examination management.

The company is in talks with nine more universities in India which includes universities in Karnataka, Mumbai, and Lucknow, said Somasundaram.