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Ex-CoE had a history of marks swapping
Debarred In 2006, Became CoE Of Anna Univ In 2015
Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com
Chennai:14.08.2018
G V Uma, former Controller of Exams of Anna University booked by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption in a re-evaluations cam, was in 2006 found guilty of a marks-swapping scandal by the administration. As per syndicate agenda and minutes accessed by TOI, Uma, then an assistant professor in the computer science depart ment of the College of Engineering, Guindy, was debarred from examination work including paper setting, invigilation, correction and examinership for a period of five years. In 2015, four years after the debarrment period ended, she was named Controller of Examinations (CoE) by then vice-chancellor MRajaram.
On June 14, 2006, a fourmember syndicate sub-committee including Professor V Jayabalan, CoE, questioned examiners, chief examiners and chairmen in regard to swapping of marks and variation in marks pertaining to papers corrected.
It found that marks of students from various colleges had been swapped, meaning a student who had passed would have failed and vice-versa. This was discovered when students obtained a photocopy of their answer-sheets. “The whole process caused enormous hardship and mental agony to students and members connected with processing of result,” the syndicate agenda said.
Ironically, the scandal involved swapping of marks in papers on professional ethics, consumer behaviour and human resource management. The committee was formed to analyse the issue and avoid such incidents in future. Twelve professors, including Uma, accepted their fault and apologised for their mistake in writing, the syndicate agenda noted. On Monday, despite repeated calls and messages, Uma could not be reached for comment. Speaking to TOI from the US, Jayabalan gave details of the modus operandi. “A dummy number is assigned to every answer sheet which corresponds to the registration number. The marks obtained by the student are then recorded by the examiner in an OMR sheet against the dummy number. The marks were entered for students in the wrong OMR sheet, thereby the results of more than 100 students were changed giving a bad result for a student who had performed well and viceversa. Uma was one of the chief examiner then and was found guilty,” he said.
Jayabalan, regarded as a no-nonsense officer and top academic by former vicechancellors of the university, said that he was not aware if the mistakes were deliberate . “However it is regrettable that a person who had such serious charges in the examination process later was appointed as CoE,” he said. Uma is currently the chief accused in a re-evaluation scam unearthed by DVAC which alleges that thousands of students paid bribes up to ₹10,000 each to artificially boost their marks. DVAC is also investigating another complaint by then higher education secretary Sunil Paliwal, alleging involvement in a ₹63 crore marksheet contract scam.
Ex-CoE had a history of marks swapping
Debarred In 2006, Became CoE Of Anna Univ In 2015
Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com
Chennai:14.08.2018
G V Uma, former Controller of Exams of Anna University booked by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption in a re-evaluations cam, was in 2006 found guilty of a marks-swapping scandal by the administration. As per syndicate agenda and minutes accessed by TOI, Uma, then an assistant professor in the computer science depart ment of the College of Engineering, Guindy, was debarred from examination work including paper setting, invigilation, correction and examinership for a period of five years. In 2015, four years after the debarrment period ended, she was named Controller of Examinations (CoE) by then vice-chancellor MRajaram.
On June 14, 2006, a fourmember syndicate sub-committee including Professor V Jayabalan, CoE, questioned examiners, chief examiners and chairmen in regard to swapping of marks and variation in marks pertaining to papers corrected.
It found that marks of students from various colleges had been swapped, meaning a student who had passed would have failed and vice-versa. This was discovered when students obtained a photocopy of their answer-sheets. “The whole process caused enormous hardship and mental agony to students and members connected with processing of result,” the syndicate agenda said.
Ironically, the scandal involved swapping of marks in papers on professional ethics, consumer behaviour and human resource management. The committee was formed to analyse the issue and avoid such incidents in future. Twelve professors, including Uma, accepted their fault and apologised for their mistake in writing, the syndicate agenda noted. On Monday, despite repeated calls and messages, Uma could not be reached for comment. Speaking to TOI from the US, Jayabalan gave details of the modus operandi. “A dummy number is assigned to every answer sheet which corresponds to the registration number. The marks obtained by the student are then recorded by the examiner in an OMR sheet against the dummy number. The marks were entered for students in the wrong OMR sheet, thereby the results of more than 100 students were changed giving a bad result for a student who had performed well and viceversa. Uma was one of the chief examiner then and was found guilty,” he said.
Jayabalan, regarded as a no-nonsense officer and top academic by former vicechancellors of the university, said that he was not aware if the mistakes were deliberate . “However it is regrettable that a person who had such serious charges in the examination process later was appointed as CoE,” he said. Uma is currently the chief accused in a re-evaluation scam unearthed by DVAC which alleges that thousands of students paid bribes up to ₹10,000 each to artificially boost their marks. DVAC is also investigating another complaint by then higher education secretary Sunil Paliwal, alleging involvement in a ₹63 crore marksheet contract scam.
