All ITI exams to go online from 2019

MUMBAI: Starting next year, the state government will conduct all theory examinations at Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) online following a verdict by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday. The verdict also paved the way for the declaration of the second and fourth semester examination results, which were held up due to an interim court order.

The state government has already been replacing the penand-paper All India Trade Test (AITT) at ITIS with online tests since the last three examination cycles in a phased manner. However, two students, Selaindra Gujar and Kunal Humane, had filed a writ petition in the HC, objecting to the state using two different methods — online and offline — to conduct the same set of tests.

"The petitioner wanted the examinations to be held either online or offline across the state. According to the directives of the court, the upcoming examinations in July will be conducted through online mode only," said an official from the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET).

While disposing the petition, a division bench of justices RK Deshpande and Vinay Joshi, in their verdict, said, “We expect the respondent — state government — to make all such arrangements for conducting online examination of students under AITT, at least prior to April 2019.”

During the last AITT, students belonging to select trades and ITIS were subjected to online testing while others took the test manually. The DVET official said results of second and fourth semester examinations will be out soon, as they have made the Union government’s Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGE&T), which conducts AITT, aware of the verdict. “The results will be declared any moment now,” he said.

This will be a relief to many students, who had applied for apprenticeships and were awaiting results. They will now have to wait until April 2020 for their Itinational Council on Vocational Training (NCVT) test, which is conducted after a year of apprenticeship in industry. “The results have been delayed already. The students will now lose six months after their apprenticeship,” said DW Patne, secretary, association of non-government ITIS, Maharashtra .