Digitizing Tabulation in Tamil Nadu to Do away With the Tedium of Teachers

Vinod Kakumanu
Sept. 30, 2019, 11:58 a.m.

Digitization of tabulation of marks in government schools in Tamil Nadu is being undertaken by the state government. The project stems from the realization that the inordinate amount of time teachers spent in evaluating the answer scripts rather than giving lectures in the class. The exercise will dramatically reduce the time for manual evaluation and give time to teachers to spend in the class. Taking it a step further, the authorities from education department are also planning to digitize the tabulation of board exam answer scripts from next year onwards.

“We have received several requests from teachers and principals of government schools for streamlining education. Teachers told that they spend several hours tabulating results, due to which they struggle to complete their syllabus on time.” An official from the education department stated.

Suggestions are also being welcomed by the department from various teachers and educationist to implement the plan.

The initiative is the first step in the genesis of a tech-enabled educational sector. Next, the department is set to introduce digital report cards in primary classes. It is said that they have already introduced QR codes in textbooks and is also trying to develop smart classes in government schools.

Recently, Delhi government announced to carry out the process to digitize tabulation with a motive to benefit 60,000 government school teachers.

As per the statistics, Tamil Nadu has 37,000 government schools, more than 2 lakh teachers and above 44 lakh students. A principal from the Government Girls High School appreciated the move and said, “On an average a teacher devotes not less than six hours correcting the papers, they only get a 10-minute break. Teachers also skip meals to finish it in time, working days together.”