"Because of bubbling error in OMR sheets, correct marks were not awarded..." the probe panel said
A committee formed by the Telangana government to probe discrepancies in the results of the state's intermediate exam, after 25 students committed suicide, has pointed out several glaring errors.
The panel has recommended a thorough data analysis of the exam results to fix any problem in evaluation of answer sheets of students who scored well in the first year but failed in the final exams.
"Because of the bubbling error in the OMR sheets, correct marks were not awarded to very few students," the report said, referring to errors in the optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets on which students tick the answers that they think are correct and are read by computers during evaluation.
"In only one instance, zero marks were awarded instead of 99 marks in Telugu 2 subject because of the bubbling error done by examiner, scrutinizer and chief-examiner," the report said.
The probe report points to alleged inability of Globarena Technologies Pvt Ltd to handle the massive amount of data for holding the exam. Analysts and opposition leaders have alleged that the tender criterion about capacity and experience in dealing with the answer sheets of 9.78 lakh students was allegedly relaxed or waived.
A high number of student suicides in Telangana, 25 in the last 11 days, has led to a huge outrage in the state. Some 3.28 lakh out of 9.7 lakh students - or 33 per cent students - who gave the exam have been declared failed in the state board's intermediate exam conducted by a private agency.
The committee, however, didn't find any major difference in the pass percentage. "No significant variation has been observed in the pass percentage of 2019 when compared with 2018," it said.
Janardhan Reddy, principal secretary of the education department, said answer sheets of students who got 80 per cent marks in the first year and failed in the final exam will be re-verified.
The issue had taken a political turn as the BJP's state unit chief K Laxman announced an indefinite hunger strike, demanding a judicial probe into the controversy.
The committee in its recommendations has also said an existing "software module" can be deployed for re-verification of all failed candidates. "However, an independent agency should monitor the entire process and if required the same independent agency and/or another agency should conduct parallel processing of results," the panel said.
Congress leader D Sravan said a 110-page report was submitted by the three-member committee, but only a four-page note was released by the government. He alleged that is because the contents of the full report are "very scathing on the government", and demanded that the full report should be made public.