Names misspelt: Students fight recurring errors on board marksheets

Chennai: Every year, thousands of Class X and XII state board students in Tamil Nadu receive their provisional marksheets only to find their names misprinted—and then spend weeks navigating a correction process that school officials say is entirely avoidable.

The problem is transliteration. Sanskrit-derived name prefixes like “Shri” or “Sha” are routinely garbled into “Ri,” “Siri” or “Sh” when student details are converted from English into Tamil on the education management information system (EMIS portal), a digital platform used by education department to gather, manage, and analyze student, teacher, and school-level data.

School heads say the error originates at the data entry stage. Staff are required to use the ‘Unicode’ font embedded in the EMIS software to transliterate names accurately. Instead, many type the details in other fonts or software and paste them onto the portal—a shortcut that scrambles the output. “Transliteration varies with fonts and tools,” said retired school principal M Rajalakshmi. “In Unicode, you type ‘sha’ to get its Tamil equivalent. A different font requires ‘shaa.’ It is best to stick to the uniform method prescribed by the govt.”

When errors appear on documents such as transfer certificates issued by the school, they can be fixed immediately. Provisional marksheets, however, are issued by the Directorate of Government Exams. Changes in this require students to formally apply for corrections—a process that can take weeks.

For state board students, the provisional marksheets, transfer certificates and other documents have details input in Tamil and English. “The problem is mostly seen in Sanskrit-derived words. Teachers and those involved in the process are required to use the ‘Unicode’ font to transliterate student details from English into Tamil. Some of them type it elsewhere in other fonts or software and copy paste these details onto EMIS, which can result in the mismatch,” a school head said.

Director of Government Examinations K Sasikala, said it was “perennial problem” but said only a small share of students were affected. “The application for corrections has already been issued for this year, and the process is under way,” she said.

Students can submit correction requests through their schools until June 10. School heads will forward them to assistant directors for corrections.