Solapur University leads the way in Maharashtra for online exam administration

With the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, online exams became common practice for academic evaluation. The university exams were taken online while sitting at home in Maharashtra this time around due to the Corona epidemic. After much controversy, the Maharashtra Supreme Court ordered that all educational institutions administer exams online immediately. As a result, students in nearly every institute had to deal with significant technical challenges. There was no uniformity in exam mode and pattern for all. The most crucial component of these online exams, which have a significant impact on students, was fairness.

Despite this, Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Solapur University has managed to conduct 100% of its exams online. Solapur University stunned everyone by conducting online exams and distinguished itself in Maharashtra by having a preventive algorithm to allocate time and financial resources effectively. Solapur University successfully conducted online examinations for all years, including the final year, in contrast to several Maharashtra universities, which had to make major efforts just to conduct the final year exams. Solapur University managed to hold exams more fairly, methods were considered, and possible failures were identified; as a result, it successfully offered its students a high-quality online exam.

In comparison to any other well-established old universities in Maharashtra, Solapur University, a recently founded university, held the online exam promptly. Less technological difficulties emerged. Operations for the exam went off without a hitch. Additionally, students reported having a favorable exam-taking experience, which was uncommon in many other universities.

Solapur became the only university in Maharashtra that conducted the rest of the year’s exams through the university itself instead of giving them to the colleges. This time, the worst performance in online examinations was done by Sant Gadge Baba Vidyapeeth of Amravati, in which the conduct of online examinations came to a standstill.

The question of completing the exam using a Google form was also raised. Following Amravati, Gondwana University Gadchiroli and Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University were also subjected to severe disruptions. Students at Pune University had to deal with a variety of issues at first.

However, online exams were perceived to be getting easier. The University here had also provided students with an offline option, with reports of difficulty persisting till the conclusion. Nanded and Aurangabad universities, on the other hand, prioritized offline tests over online exams, which resulted in fewer issues. However, the risk of infection among the students remained. 

The entire process of conducting the online exams was conducted in a paperless manner and with 100% accuracy by Solapur University. It resulted in timely mark sheets being generated for the students, and the university was able to declare results ahead of schedule. The overall process resulted in huge savings related to administration costs.