Mumbai’s St Xavier’s College students outraged over Rs 200 fee to see exam papers, read full report

This year in June, Mumbai’s St Xavier’s College in Fort decided to shift to an all-online grading system. The intention was to make it easier for students, but it looks like the upgrade has backfired. Students from the college are protesting against this move, as they have to pay Rs 200 per subject to see their corrected answer sheets. As per the reports, this rule applies only to sit-down exams, not to essays and presentations.

A recent report by Mid-Day mentions that students of St Xavier’s have started an anonymous petition against the college’s decision to make them pay Rs 200 per subject. Students shared how they cannot see feedback or errors on their papers anymore. Reportedly, the online-grading system only shows them marks on the SXC Qualcampus portal, as scanned answer sheets are uploaded and graded in random order.

A third-year student informed the tabloid that in the past, they would get their papers back for a few minutes and were able to see where they lost marks. But that’s not the case anymore, as the portal only shows the marks per question, without any clarity. “It’s nearly impossible to figure out what went wrong, which affects our ability to improve,” the student shared.

The report further mentions that the college introduced the system to reduce bias, as teachers are not aware of whose papers they are checking. However, for students, this system creates a barrier to understanding their mistakes and learning from them. The students of St Xavier’s College raised the issue during CIA 1 in July, and CIA 2 concluded last week. In October, the mid-semester exams will be held, where students will be evaluated out of 60.

A senior official from the college shared their reaction on the matter. The official stated that no students have officially approached the college principal with complaints. They went on to say that they are currently evaluating the two CIA papers and will present them to the students. The official mentioned that the college is trying to determine the best approach for conducting unbiased assessments and that it will consider students’ welfare when making any further decisions.