Solapur ZP schools participate in experiment involving evaluation of papers with help of AI
As government schools across Maharashtra declared the final results on Thursday, a unique experiment unfolded in 12 Zilla Parishad (ZP) schools in Solapur district. A total of 225 students received their results based on an AI-assisted evaluation model called 'Hack the Classroom'. Their answer sheets were scanned and assessed using artificial intelligence and it was verified by teachers, who parallelly assessed papers physically.
The project is the brainchild of Ranjitsinh Disale, a global award-winning teacher currently pursuing a Master's in Education at Harvard University. Disale developed the AI model in collaboration with Harvard's Innovation Lab. 'This was a pilot run to see whether AI can assist in evaluation and identify areas for improvement,' he said.
One class from each participating school was chosen for the experiment. To prepare, students submitted samples of their handwriting—numbers and alphabets in both Marathi and English—so the AI could interpret their responses. 'The AI is specifically designed to create and check question papers in Marathi as we have Marathi-medium schools,' said Disale who highlighted that the pilot run revealed that AI evaluation significantly reduces time. 'Teachers took an average of one minute 42 seconds to check a 20 marks paper and five minutes 27 seconds for a 50-mark paper. The AI completed the same tasks in just 32 seconds,' said Disale.
On accuracy, Disale said ,handwriting did pose a challenge. 'The accuracy was reported at 95 per cent, with the AI struggling to read the handwriting of about 5 per cent students,' told Disale while adding that the AI model also generated a six-week learning plan for students, based on assessment.
Disale pointed out that it was an appropriate time to test his experiment as with a delayed academic year, teachers had less time for evaluation of papers, which sparked the need for such innovation.
Pradeep Tandale, a teacher from ZP School Tembhurni, which participated in the experiment, appreciated the time saved in clerical tasks such as marks calculation and tabulation. However, he emphasized that AI should complement, not replace, teacher evaluations. 'AI can miss nuances in student responses. A teacher can recognize handwriting even in broken or unclear sentences, which a machine might not consider,' he said.
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