Powers and duties of Board of Examinations and Evaluation

Section 48 of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 deals with powers and duties of Board of Examinations and Evaluation. The Board of Examinations and Evaluation shall have the following powers and duties, namely :- (a) to devise policy, mechanism and operational strategies to do the tasks relating to assessment of performance of students efficiently and in a time bound manner; The Act was enacted on 11 Jan 2017.

(1) The Board of Examinations and Evaluation shall have the following powers and duties, namely :-

(a) to devise policy, mechanism and operational strategies to do the tasks relating to assessment of performance of students efficiently and in a time bound manner;

(b) to ensure proper organization of examinations and tests of the university, including moderation, tabulation, evaluation and timely declaration of results:

Provided that, the Board of Examinations and Evaluation shall, for the purposes of this clause, give effect to the recommendations of the Board of Students' Development and the Board of Sports and Physical Education, regarding alternative arrangements.

(c) to prepare the financial estimates relating to examinations and evaluation for incorporation in the annual financial estimates (budget) of the university and shall submit the same to the Finance and Accounts Committee;

(d) to arrange for strict vigilance during the conduct of examinations so as to avoid use of unfair means by the students, teachers, invigilators, supervisors, etc.;

(e) to establish procedures and devise operative mechanism for credit assessment in the modular structure by the teachers and use computer technology for the entire process of assessment and evaluation including creating and effectively using a repository of question banks;

(f) to ensure that the assessment of answer books for award of degrees, diplomas or certificates shall be done centrally through central assessment system by following system of masking and de-masking of answer books or any other alternative system for ensuring the objective of secrecy;

(g) to undertake examination and evaluation reforms in order to make examination and evaluation system more efficient;

(h) to appoint paper-setters, examiners and moderators from amongst the persons included in the panels prepared by the respective Boards of Studies and, where necessary, having regard to the recommendations made by the committee under clause (b) of sub-section (5), remove them or debar them;

(i) to approve detailed programme of examinations and evaluation as prepared by the Director, Board of Examinations and Evaluation;

(j) to consider the reports of review of results of university examinations forwarded by the Director, Board of Examinations and Evaluation;

(k) to hear and decide the complaints relating to conduct of examinations and evaluation;

(l) to exercise such other powers in relation to examinations and evaluation as may be assigned to it by or under this Act.

(2) In case of any emergency requiring immediate action to be taken, the Chairperson of the Board of Examinations and Evaluation or any other officer or person authorized by him in that behalf, shall take such action as he thinks fit and necessary, and shall report the action taken by him at the next meeting of the Board.

(3) (a) In order to appoint paper-setters, examiners and moderators, the Board of Examinations and Evaluation shall constitute committees for every subject consisting of,-

(i) the Dean of the concerned faculty - Chairperson;

(ii) Associate Dean, if any;

(iii) the Chairperson of the Board of Studies concerned;

(iv) two members of the Board of Studies, nominated by it from amongst its members of whom at least one shall be a post-graduate teacher;

(v) the Director of Board of Examinations and Evaluation shall act as a Secretary of such committee.

(b) The committee shall prepare lists of persons for various examinations and tests, included in the panels to be prepared by the Board of Studies and shall submit them to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, who shall submit the same with his recommendations, if any, to the Board of Examinations and Evaluation, which shall then appoint paper-setters, examiners and moderators, and where necessary referees.

(c) No member of the Board of Examinations and Evaluation or the committees constituted under this section shall be appointed as a paper-setter, examiner, moderator or referee:

Provided that, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor shall have power to appoint a member of the Board of Examinations and Evaluation or the committees constituted under this section, as a paper-setter, examiner, moderator or referee where no teacher relating to such subject who is not a member of the Board of Examinations and Evaluation or the committees is available.

(4) It shall be obligatory on every teacher and on the non-teaching employee of the University, affiliated, conducted colleges, community colleges or recognized institutions to render necessary assistance and service in respect of examinations of the university and evaluation of students as prescribed by statutes. If any teacher or non-teaching employee fails to comply with the order of the university or college or institution, in this respect, it shall be treated as misconduct and the employee shall be liable for disciplinary action. In case of failure on the part of the teacher or nonteaching employee of any affiliated college, conducted college, community college or recognized institution, to comply with the order of the university in this respect, the Vice-Chancellor shall have power to take an appropriate action against them, which may include imposing penalties including suspension of approval to the appointment of a teacher, as may be prescribed by the Statutes.

(5) (a) In order to investigate and take disciplinary action for failure to comply with the order of the university for rendering assistance or service in respect of examinations by or on behalf of the university or evaluation of students or formal practices and lapses on the part of candidates, paper-setters, examiners, moderators, referees, teachers or any other persons connected with the conduct of examinations including the pre-examination stage and the post-examination stage or at any stage whatsoever, the Board of Examinations and Evaluation shall constitute a committee of not more than five persons of whom one shall be the Chairperson;

(b) Such committee shall submit its report and recommendations to the Vice-Chancellor, who may direct the Director, Board of Examinations and Evaluation, the disciplinary action to be taken against the person or persons involved in the malpractices, directly or indirectly, and the Director, Board of Examinations and Evaluation shall proceed to implement the decision of the Vice-Chancellor.

Section 48, The Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 (Act 6 of 2017).