Examination

 

Examination

Introduction

Examinations department is one of the most significant body in the organizational hierarchy of AIOU, Its role is multifarious as not only does it conducts examinations and awards degrees/certificates but also plays a key role in the development of knowledge and skill of learners. Examinations are a part of growth of students and play essential role in knowledge and capability testing, they develop a sense of responsibility among students to learn and present the learned concepts to attain the same level of knowledge and capability.

Examinations Department of Allama Iqbal Open University is performing its role, in conduct of exams, evaluation of answer scripts, compilation and declaration of results for issuance of certificates and their verifications, from Matric to PhD level, since 1974. The department is maintaining its sanctity through strict and transparent procedures to intact the secrecy and enhance the efficiency. The department is headed by Controller of Examinations, further divided into different sections, each headed by respective Additional Controller of Exams. The Examinations Department of AIOU enjoys its uniqueness in comparison to other universities in the sense that it’s been tackling versatile systems which deals with Face to Face, Blended, ODL and Online. This department is handling all different kinds of examination systems with efficiency and diligence.

The Organogram: 

The main sections of examinations department are as following:

1. Conduct and Secrecy Section:

The conduct section has manifold duties and responsibilities to perform its functions. The Conduct Section conducts the examinations with the help of Regional officers and Academic Department. It prepares the data sheets, appoints the supervisory staff in addition to performing other activities i.e., allocates exam centers to the students and issues Roll No. slips. It is further divided into two sub-sections including Material and Billing Sections. The Section is performing its inward and outward responsibilities diligently.

Secrecy Section is one of the most sensitive section of the examinations department. The Secrecy section includes Question Paper Section (Setting, Printing and Dispatch of question papers to all the Exam Centers), Answer Scripts Section (Keeping the record of blank and used answer scripts, issuance, and reception of solved answer books and the arrangement of the evaluation process). The section is secured with all prerequisites in terms of secrecy and security as per the demand of the section.

The Conduct & Secrecy section also consisting of following sub sections:

i). Exam Billing

Supervisory staff and evaluations have an important role in the entire process of examinations from conduct to evaluations. Billing Section processes all kinds of bills including supervisory staff and evaluators received through Regional Offices/Secrecy Section. The remuneration of exam centers is processed upon receipt of Clearance Certificate/NOC from Material Section. Payment of remuneration is paid to supervisory staff and evaluators as per rate approved by the AIOU.

ii). Answer scripts:

Key roles of answer script section are:

• Receiving & entry of answer scripts
• Receiving & disposal of re-checking applications
• Dealing with Wafaqi Mohtasab / court cases /PM Portal cases and applications of the students. (1500x cases per semester)
• Preparation and initiation of examiner’s notification and claims

iii). Question Papers:

• Paper setting, proof reading, printing, packing and dispatch of papers to centre superintendents through Banks.
• Delivery through TCS and postal services.

2. Result Section:

The result section is one of the most sensitive and important section amongst the rest. The Result section compiles the programme wise results, scrutinizes/checks the results as per AIOU rules in the light of IBCC/HEC guidelines, announces the results of all level of programmes. This section also updates the necessary changes when and where it is required as per rules and regulations of AIOU.

The results of examinations are declared within prescribed time period after completion of examinations. The Results can be viewed/printed from AIOU students’ CMS Portal: https://enrollment.aiou.edu.pk/

3. R&I Section

The main objective of this section is to receive all kinds of applications for proper scrutiny and forwarding for onward necessary process as under:

• receiving and sorting / categorizing the applications / mail for further process
• sending request of Issuance of degrees/DMC/certificates to the concern section
• sending request of verification of documents to the concern section
• processing the fee verification of received applications
• student complaints /queries regarding different sections of Exams department i.e. result correction, updating roll number slips etc
• data entry of all applications / mail and forwarding them to the relevant section
• reply to the students

The main sources of receiving of applications are:

• Student Facilitation Centre (Window Operation at block #3)
• Directly from students
• Through Pakistan Post
• Through other courier services
• Different offices / departments / regional offices
• Service requests through CMS
• AIOU help desk
• Through e-mails

4. Certificate, Degree & Verification Section:

The Certificate and Degree section is working very diligently to issue the students their transcripts and degrees on timely manner.

The Certificate & Degree Section coordinates with the National Security Printing Company (NSPC) Pvt. Limited for printing of the credentials as per guidelines of HEC. It maintains the blank degrees and transcripts of awards, prepares the transcripts /DMC/ provisional/certificates/diplomas/degrees, issues the transcripts/DMC/provisional/ certificates/diplomas/ degrees to the students after getting approval from the authorities and dispatches the same to the students on their respective addresses. The undelivered educational credentials are kept in the safe custody and dealt as per policy & procedures.

The verification section carries out verification process of original documents from the academic records. This section verifies the credentials i.e. certificates/degrees/diplomas or any document issued by the Examinations Department time to time. The different modes of verifications are available like one window verification i.e. same day verifications, departmental verifications by postal mail and international verifications by third party or via e-mail. Different fee for verification is applicable as per rules.

5. Evaluation/Exam Lab/F2F/UMC Section:

Consist of following sub sections:

i). Evaluation:

Evaluation section mostly carries out centralized evaluation at main campus of AIOU. The Evaluation section performs centralized evaluation process through evaluator (selected from E-portal) and arranges the evaluation/marking of answer scripts of all ODL Mode Programmes. It processes the remuneration bills of the examiners, deputed for the assignment of evaluation of different courses.

ii). Exams Lab:

Exams Lab is the last section where the result is finalized after going through all prior and prerequisite processes. This section deals with printing and dispatch of cut lists/attendance/memo, printing of award lists of all courses, punching of final marks & verification of punched data and punching of results/award list etc. From this section, the entire cycle of examination and assessment process comes to an end, and the result is declared.

iii). Face to Face

This section performs the duties in collaboration with Conduct Section and help out the Face to Face education and examinations in the university.

iv). Unfair Means Cases(UMC):

All unfair means cases reported are dealt by UMC. This section deals with unfair means cases (UMC) registered in regions/centralized evaluation against the accused students. After a fair trial and hearing to accused students, decisions are taken as per rules.

AIOU Grading Scheme 2021 and onward:

The University has adopted the following grading scheme for its students from Autumn-2021 semester and onwards:

Percentage of Marks	Letter Grade	GPA
85% and above but below 100%	A	4.0
80% and above but below 85%	A-	3.7
75% and above but below 80%	B+	3.3
70% and above but below 75%	B	3.0
65% and above but below 70%	B-	2.7
60% and above but below 65%	C+	2.3
55% and above but below 60%	C	2.0
52% and above but below 55%	C-	1.7
50% and above but below 52%	D	1.0
Below 50%	F	0.0

 

 

Objectives

• Establishment of examination centers/appointments of supervisory/monitoring staff
• Date Sheet preparation/preparation and dispatch of question papers
• Conduct of final examination/evaluation of answer scripts
• Compilation of assignments result received through DRS/regional Centers
• Compilation & declaration of final result
• Issuance of PRC’s/certificates/transcripts/degrees
• Verification of PRC/certificates/transcripts/degrees

Future Plans

1. Biometric attendance at centers.

 

2. Development of data bank of examination centers, supervisory staff and monitoring staff.

 

3. Development of standardized question data bank.

 

4. Introduction/purchase of Intelligent character recognition (ICR) for speedy scanning of awards and other documents.

 

5. Updating/amendments in existing examinations regulations.

 

6. Revisiting the existing evaluation system (centralized/individualized) to improve the quality.

 

7. One window operation with support web application for Certificate/degree issuance/verification.

 

8. Application processing system through regions

 

9. Degree application processing using fast track mechanism

 

10. Implementation of CMS/digitization

 

Contact Details

Examination

Examinations Department, Block No.3, Allama Iqbal Open University, Sector H-8, Islamabad

exam@aiou.edu.pk

051-9250012, Fax 051-9250013