The Telangana State Board for Intermediate Education (TSBIE) on Tuesday announced that it will no longer be using Globarena Technologies Pvt Ltd’s software to process the exam results of the 2020 Intermediate Public Examinations (IPE).
The board, which had given Globarena a contract of three years to process results in 2019, faced flak after scores of students failed the examination due to a technical glitch in the software.
After a three-member committee held a meeting with technical experts, the TSBIE has decided to create a reliable software which will be error-free. Speaking to media on Tuesday, TSBIE commissioner Syed Omer Jaleel said the software created by Globarena was not tested and not even certified.
This year, the TSBIE will rely on the Centre of Good governance (CGG) to handle and process the examination data. Till 2019, CGG was responsible for processing data and allotment of seats, while processing of exam results was done by a private agency. This year, CGG will be developing a new software to process exam results as well. The software will be audited and tested before being put into use, the TSBIE commissioner said.
The board also announced the formation of an online grievance cell within a fortnight where students can clarify doubts related to the 2020 Intermediate Public examinations.
However, Globarena CEO VSN Raju told the Times of India that they are still very much in the picture and there has been no communication from the government asking them to stop services.
“We have been hired for data and result processing for three years. There is a purchase order still in place,” Raju said, adding, “I am thinking we would process the results parallelly. There has been no communication from the government’s side.”
Telangana had witnessed a spate of student deaths ever since the results for the Intermediate exam, the state board equivalent of Class 11 and 12, were announced in April this year. Over 20 students killed themselves, allegedly dejected with the marks they received, with student organisations, parents, and opposition parties laying the blame on the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)-led government.