VTU to replace supplementary exams with on-demand tests

S. Vidyashankar, Vice-Chancellor, VTU.

To avoid the loss of an academic year for students who could not attend the scheduled semester examinations in any subject or who failed in one or more subjects, the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has decided to conduct “on-demand examinations”.

With the introduction of the on-demand examination system, students will no longer have to wait for the university to announce the supplementary examination schedule. The university will be ready to conduct examinations at a time convenient to students, based on their requests, even for a single student. Students can even request to write examinations on public holidays.

Speaking to The Hindu, S. Vidyashankar, Vice-Chancellor, VTU, said, “With the intention of providing greater convenience to students, we have decided to introduce on-demand examinations. We have also made all the necessary preparations for this initiative. Even if a single student wishes to appear for an examination, we will conduct it for them.”

VTU has decided to announce the results within 24 hours of the examination for students appearing for these on-demand examinations.

VTU has instructed all affiliated engineering colleges under its jurisdiction to inform students about this opportunity. Details regarding eligibility, examination schedules, and the application process will be announced shortly.

Among the public universities in the State, VTU is the first to take up such an initiative. There are 220 engineering colleges under VTU’s jurisdiction, with around three lakh students currently pursuing their studies. Approximately 70,000 students secure admission every year. On average, around 20% of students fail in one or more subjects in each semester examination. Earlier, such students had to wait for six to seven months to reappear for their examinations.

VTU will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to prepare question papers. There is already a bank of 500-600 question papers for each subject. The university has also made the necessary arrangements and deployed the required staff to conduct these examinations.