OMR heroes a big zero in descriptive paper

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) has withheld the results of 552 class X students for major discrepancy in their performance in objective and descriptive question papers carrying weightage of 50 marks each.

While these students have scored near-full marks in objective type (

OMR

), they have fared poorly in descriptive question paper managing 0-5 marks only.

Consider this: A student has scored 49 out of 50 in OMR in maths paper but only two marks out of 50 in descriptive. Another student has scored full marks in the OMR paper in English but got a duck in the descriptive paper.

This inconsistency in performance was thrown up by a special software used by board authorities to scan results for any irregularities.

“We have reserved results of 552 students as it was found that their performance in OMR and descriptive papers was a complete mismatch. All of them have scored between 45 and 50 in OMR and below five marks in the descriptive paper. Mass copying is strongly suspected,” said M M Pathan, officer on special duty (

OSD

) of GSHSEB.

Board officials said that it is suspected that students were dictated answers by teachers from outside the exam halls as no CCTV camera footage of copying during exams is available. “Students will be summoned before the examination reforms committee and subjected to an impromptu test to prove their subject knowledge,” said a board official.

These students, mostly from Panchmahal, Chota Udepur, Mangrol, Amreli and Narmada among others, have copied in maths, science and English subjects.

It needs mention that the software was installed by the board two years back. In 2017, 570 copy cats were caught due to discrepancy in scores in OMR and descriptive papers. “Many students who had scored 50/50 in OMR did not even know that a triangle has three sides,” said a board official.