OMR technology has completely changed the way exams are conducted in India. OMR sheet scanners offer numerous benefits that make them the preferred method of conducting examinations by authorities. Among the many advantages it delivers is improved accuracy and efficiency. With this technology, sheets are scanned by machines, thus eliminating the need for manual checking. This ensures that the results are accurate. When these exams are checked by hand, there is always a chance for mistakes to creep in, such as entering the wrong selection, missing out on a marked answer, and so forth. This eliminates such errors and makes sure that each solution is checked thoroughly.
The processing of results is also much faster. Unlike manual checking, which can take many weeks to complete, OMR sheet scanners can finish the entire workload in a matter of hours. This means that results are available faster, which enables candidates to plan their next steps sooner. It is also a very cost-effective technology eliminating the need for large amounts of manpower. Due to accuracy, rechecking procedures are also not necessary.
Rise in competitive examinations in India
During the past decade, India has witnessed a large rise in the number of competitive exams conducted by various government and private bodies. These exams play an important role in determining the future of many lakhs of students across the country. The number of competitive exams has increased in every single sector. This includes education, the government and the private sector as well. Using OMR sheets in competitive exams has been a recent development.
• Rise in applicant number: Data from the Ministry of Education suggests that the number of applicants for competitive exams in India has grown by 33 per cent in the last decade alone. In 2010 there were about 24 million applicants approximately for all the competitive exams. Last year it was above 32 million. This astonishing rise is due to the ever-increasing number of students in the country, many growth opportunities and the need for a more skilled workforce.
• Growing population: The growing population of the country also ensures that the number of applicants is always on the rise. With a population of over 1.3 billion, the number of students currently seeking higher education and job opportunities is significantly higher. The government also has created the need for more personnel in both administrative and non-administrative services, creating more job needs. This has led to the growth of exams in sectors like nationalized banking, railways and civil services. This made the use of OMR sheets a necessity.
• Economy: There is another reason for this high rise in competitive exam numbers. The private sector boom in India following the growth of the economy has seen many large multinational companies setting up shops on Indian soil. They offer lucrative opportunities for job candidates. To select the best candidates, there are many competitive exams in the private sector also.
This directly feeds into the next point. Requirements for a skilled workforce. Due to the growing economy, there has been a huge demand for skilled professionals in various sectors like technology, finance and healthcare.
As we have seen with the immense rise in competitive exams, there is also a need for the usage of technology like OMR sheet scanners to conduct the exams in an efficient and accurate way. Below we will see how using them has revolutionized exams in India.
How has OMR revolutionized exams
OMR sheet scanners are a game changer in the way competitive exams are conducted in India. With the high rise in the exam and applicant numbers, there has been an increasing need for an efficient, cost-effective and accurate way of conducting these exams. OMR technology has effectively addressed this huge need by being a reliable and automated way of checking the marked sheets, thereby reducing the chance of errors and discrepancies.
• Versatility is a huge bonus. OMR formats allow exam administrators to use pre-created templates to vary formats according to the exam. Therefore, exam-specific format creation is available. With the range of different organizations conducting exams, having a format that is reproducible and easily editable is a huge plus. This allows for revision of the exam format every few years and also easy question paper generation using pre-generated or preset templates for multiple tests using the same format. Low OMR scanner prices help the adoption of the technology.
• Accuracy: Traditional methods of checking answer sheets manually can be prone to errors. This is especially true when there are hundreds of thousands of candidates taking an exam simultaneously. They have taken care of this issue by the automatic checking of answer sheets. Current software boasts a nearly 100 per cent accuracy with very little room for error.
• Easily accessible: In previous decades, OMR sheet scanners were specialized hardware that only could be used for OMMR scans. Now any commercially available scanner can be used to scan the marked answer sheets, and the answer can be uploaded with little to no error.
• Speed: Another big advantage conveyed by this technology is speed. Most testing centers and institutes have to process lakhs of answer sheets every year. OMR sheet scanners can process up to Thousands of answer sheets can be scanned in an hour, making the process of tallying the marking at each exam center much easier. Further, consider that this speed doesn’t come at the cost of accuracy.
• Saves money: These advantages also make the whole exam process cost-effective. Traditional methods of checking answer sheets require a large number of examiners. This is extra manpower. Also, this labour cost extends because it is slower than the automated OMR scanning process. This adds up over every exam year after year. Scanning thousands of sheets in an hour essentially allows an exam center to finish processing in a timely manner and saves a lot of money for the conducting authorities. This, in addition to the affordable OMR scanner price, is a big boon.
The massive rise in the number of competitive exams in India is because of several factors. These include an increasing population, a growing number of opportunities, and the need for a more skilled workforce. The increase in competitive exams has provided students with more options to pursue their passion in life while also helping organizations identify the best candidates for the job. OMR technology has been the best tool to help in conducting the exams.
In conclusion, OMR technology has, on a large scale, revolutionized the way competitive exams are conducted in India. The benefits of the technology include near-total accuracy, efficiency, reduction in human error and cost-effectiveness. This has increased the ease of conducting large-scale exams across various locations and formats, paving the way for millions of students to pursue their future.