Online assessment during lockdown by PIA in Kerala -TECHNO WORLD IIIRD IT KUDUMBASREE
Assessment and Certification of candidates trained is an essential component in DDU-GKY. Those candidates who are successfully completed the training in SSC/NCVT courses must attend the external assessment conducted by the respective SSC(Sector Skill Council). Project Implementing Agencies are responsible for facilitating the candidate to attend the assessment and get certified. The mode of certification has evolved through different portals(SDIS,SDMS,Skill India etc) and now the Skill India portal is finally integrated to the Kaushal Pragati portal of DDU-GKY- maintained by MoRD. Currently, the PIA doesn’t need to visit any other websites to request external assessment. All the requests, submissions, confirmations, assessment result and certificate & marksheet download can be done in the Kaushal Pragati.
Once the assessment request for a batch is placed by the PIA to the respective SSC, after approval and payment confirmation, the SSC will randomly allot an assessment agency to conduct the assessment at the Training center. An examiner from the assessing agency will visit the center on the confirmed assessment date and conduct the exam. Depending on the sector skill council, the pattern of exam may vary. Usually exam constitute of a multiple choice exam conducts in the IT Lab (Online), a viva-voce and a practical exam according to the course.
During the lockdown due to COVID-19, all the training centers of DDU-GKY were also closed and so, the assessment procedures became standstill. There were many pending assessments across training centers. As the training centers are closed and candidates couldn’t reach the centers, it was impossible to conduct assessments for courses which are taught using a domain lab. Practical exam is one of the important component of the assessment of these courses.
So in June 2020, National Skill Development Corporation(NSDC) had issued an ADVISORY ON CONDUCTING REMOTE ONLINE ASSESSMENTS. It includes the protocols and requirements for conducting online. Taking that in note, the PIA- TECHNO WORLD IIIRD IT KUDUMBASREE based in Kozhikode, Kerala has initiated the process for conducting online assessment for the Sales Associate-RAS/Q0104 batch under RETAIL sector.The batch was started in 25-Nov-2019 and completed in March 2020. But due to the lockdown, assessment of the batch was pending. 35 candidates completed the training and OJT in the batch. On contacting the Retailers Association’s Skill Council of India(RASCI), they approved and shared a guid lines note for conducting the online assessment.
Once after seeking the permission from SRLM for conducting online assessment, PIA submitted the request for external assessment through Kaushal Pragati. [Submits request through the Skill India portal link in Kaushal Pragati. After verification an SDMS ID will be generated . PIA will contact the SPOC of respective SSC with the SDMS ID for generating assessment fee invoice. SSC will verify and generate invoice and share to PIA. PIA will pay the assessment fee for all candidates (Rs.800/candidate) through PFMS. Then the SSC will randomly allot a third party assessing agency for conducting the assessment]. Then a Rajastan based assessment agency got allotted for conducting the online assessment. The assessment agency then shared the SOP for Proctored Assessments.(Online proctoring refers to a digital form of assessment which enables candidates to sit exams from any location. During online proctoring, the software is used to allow students and course participants to take exams at a place of their choosing. It has to be somewhere reliable and cheat-proof. Monitoring software is used to keep an eye on test-takers through video, establishing the credibility and authenticity of the exam).
On 12-Aug-2020, the PIA had successfully completed the auto-proctored online assessment abiding COVID 19 protocols. A time slot of 10.00AM to 3.00PM was provide to PIA by the assessing agency. In that time slot, PIA must arrange and ensure availability of all the registered candidates with a computer system/Laptop/Smart phone and a good Network connection. The assessment had conducted through the mettl.com platform. All the 35 candidates of the batch attended the online assessment and successfully completed.
The process of the assessment was as follows;
- As per directions from RASCI, the assessment agency mailed the online assessment link which was sent to candidates through Whatsapp and was accessible from 10AM to 3PM.
- The personal details including email id to be submitted for login and assessment was shared by the assessment agency via mail.
- Candidates can login to the link through their smartphones/computers and can follow the instructions.
- The invigilator was constantly in touch with the responsible person of PIA over phone.
- During the assessment, candidate’s face must be inside a particular range of the front camera of smartphone/computer (Image attached). If they move or talk to somebody else, software will automatically pause the exam. Same time the invigilator will inform the PIA person also this.
Issues faced by PIA/Candidate during Online assessment;
1.Unable to login when Google chrome is not installed in the phone
2.Unable to launch test if camera and microphone is off.
3.Warning signals if any person or noise detected in the field, the test will temporarily paused
4.Network issues
5.Unable to submit the test due to any technical error at the end.
It was a good and practical method to conduct online assessments for those courses doesn’t required practical exams. So, the candidate can attend the exams from his own place using his gadgets in this challenging time. Hope more PIAs initiate this and complete the pending assessments.
Author: Aswin Ramachandran
Project Officer (M&E), DDU-GKY, NIRD&PR