After having taken online classes for over six weeks, most city schools have moved to the next stage, where they have either taken their first online exams or are gearing up to conduct one over the next few days.
In most schools, the original summer vacation calendar has been tweaked in order to accommodate these exams. There are some schools that have announced marks-fetching projects through online research since libraries are closed and text books are unavailable.
Schools have had to make elaborate arrangements. Right from creating separate secure exam identity numbers, log-in timings for exams, where students have to enter within a stipulated time and sit at a certain camera angle, to online submission modalities, everything is foolproof.
Take the case of Heritage School, which was one of the first to take online tests. All kids up to Class-IX are taking these tests, each 30-minute long, in a special online exam portal after logging in with their unique user ID and password. Teachers, too, have their own ID and password to set papers in the multiple-choice mode. The school has completed a round of tests in all subjects already. “To add to the security measures, we have asked a parent/guardian to be present on camera while the test is on,” said Souvic Jati, academic co-ordinator of the school.
Most schools feel that online teaching is here to stay. DPS Ruby Park has tested children from classes VIII to XII. “We are quite happy with the way children have taken to the online classes and now is the time to quantify it so that we know where we stand,” said Indrani Chattopadhyay, the vice principal.
There are some schools like the Newtown School, that are using proctored platforms for conducting the online tests.
While in some schools, children have to write a pen-paper test and then upload the answer sheets, in some others kids are being trained to use the keyboard to write the test. DPS Howrah has finished a round of online test with pen-paper uploads on the school ERP system, but it is now reviewing several professional exam portals for a better experience, said principal Sunita Arora.
Source: Times of India
