Transparency in IESO

It is one of the most prestigious international Olympiads. India is participating in it since it was started. The OCSC camp for round 2nd was held from 13 May-30 May in Chennai by Geological Society of India. This year there were issues regarding the way camp was conducted in Chennai.

OCSC exam pattern & selection process for final round was not shared with the participants. The paper had questions with multiple answers & students could know about it only when they asked about it and by the time exam had already started. Instructions were not given on Question Paper. Even the marks were not disclosed & answer sheet was not shown to the students which generated a fair amount of doubt regarding four play in selections. In any selection process it is important that assessment should be done in transparent manner not disclosing the marks and not releasing the answer key raises eyebrows.

Such Practices are not suitable and don't match the expectations of the students for the exams or contests which are conducted at International Level.

Lack of transparency in the SCRA Exam

Special Class Railway Apprenctices' Examination (SCRA) is a very prestigious exam and SCRAs are selected through the Union Public Service Commission Examination conducted every year. At present, Special Class Railway Apprentices follow the four-year (8-semester) Mechanical Engineering Degree Course of Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi.

At the successful completion of their course they are awarded the regular BE (Mech) Degree of BIT Mesra. There are limited numbers of seats available for candidates however the way candidates are shortlisted raises lot of questions about the exam.

In the recently declared result of SCRA written test the candidates’ marks are not declared and short listed candidates are supposed to appear for interview which is 200 marks. A final merit list will be prepared by totaling the written marks (600) and Interview marks (200). The problem lies with interview marks which are very subjective in nature and there seems a lot of scope for manipulation in the hands of interview panel. UPSC should get away with interview marks in order to bring complete transparency in the exam.