Conduct of Competency Written Examination through Remote Proctoring

ffi qKfr (rG6R/ GOVERNMENT OF INDIA Tf,{, frf, qR-d6{ s?R wffirf .hroq TIilISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WAHTERYIIAYS frdfl{ qilfreqTrf,q, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF SHIPPING, MUMBAI Ede Dto. trl Ll:tot4 I 9 I 2020-E NGG-DGS Date:26.10.2021 DGS Order No. 33 of 2021 Subiect: Conduct of Competencv Written Examination through Remote Proctoring 1. Whereas waves of COVID-19 pandemic has affected conduct of competency examination in as per the normal schedule since April 2020. This has further affected seafarers professionally through delay in acquiring certificate of competence and resultant career progress. 2. Taking the above into consideration the Directorate has already started conduct of written examinations in all the MMDs for less number candidates by following Covid norms with adequate social distancing. The Directorate has also started the oral examinations through on-line platforms and has been working on conduct of written examination through Remote Proctoring. 3. Whereas remote proctoring involves remote invigilation of test-takers and candidates can appear for the exam remotely, it also involves, for candidate's; additional ability to use new technology, new methodology of writing examinations, setting up correctly remote proctoring equipment's, new ways to verify their identity, anxiety related to occurrence of technical problems owing to power cuts, computer malfunction, internet instability and other technical challenges. 4. Taking all the above into consideration, the Directorate has decided to conduct following written examinations as mentioned below, for both engineering and nautical streams via remote proctoring. A practice exam followed by a pilot exam will be conducted for only those candidates who are willing to appear for the pilot exam and ready to pay the charges for usage of remote proctoring software and also the proctoring kit to be sent to the address from where they intend to appear for the exam: eff rtFn, *a RBr, qr{ Ria, 2d Aq(, 6igt'fiq tE, 6igr{r,f (S) g{{- 4ooerl2 9th Floor, BETABuilding, l-ThinkTectno Campus, KanjurMllage Road, Kanjurmarg (E), Mumbai400042 frqfrd No;+91-2-25752tyl}nnB ihfrnar: +g1-22-257520Bf35 t*g/Ern"it, dgship{gs@nic.in aEfl5€/Website: www.dgshipping.gorr.inExam Week 1 Day / Date Time crade Function Practice Exam Tuesday 1400-1700 Nautical 2nd Mate Navi8ation 1. Terrestrial and Coastal Navigation 2. Celestial Navigation Pradice Exam Thursday 1400-1700 Engineering Marine Engineering Practice Exam Week 2 Day / Date Time Grade Function Pilot Exam Tuesday 140G.1700 Nautical 2nd Mate Navigation (Terrestrial and Coastal Navigation) Pilot Exam Wednesday 1400-1700 Engineering Marine Engineering Practice 5. lt is advised that the Candidate should have adequate power and internet back up for the remote written examination. The minimum hardware and software requirement for satisfactory conduct of remote examinations are: RAM - lMinimum 4 G8; Hard Disk - Minimum 160 GB; Operating System -Windows 10 (64 bit). Windows update version 1607 or higher (if this is not available then Windows should be updated); CPU - lntel i5 / i7 CPU processor or higher and with a good graphics capability; USB Ports - Minimum of 2 USB ports - USB 3.0 preferred; Good quality and functioninB laptop / desktop mic & speaker. 6. The remote written examination of 3-hr duration can be conducted in two parts of 1.5 hrs. if desired by the Chief Examiners. 7. The practice examination will be conducted in same manner as the full-fledged actual examination in order to give suffcient practice to the candidates in the new system. lf necessary, the Directorate may schedule additional practice examinations prior to the pilot examination. The result of practice exam will not be taken into account. However, the result of stated pilot examination shall be counted for award of Certificate of Competency. The charges for software (at present concessionary) and remote proctoring kit payable to the lT service provider shall be additional to reSular examination fees paid by the Candidate for the exam and is attached in Annexure 1to this Order.8. Noting that for successful conduct of these wrltten exanls, there are minimum software and hardware requirements to be complied with by the candidate apart from obtaining remote proctoring kit. Each candidate interested in appearing for these exam by remote proctoring shall be assessed for digital readiness in two stages and shall only be permitted to appear for these digital exams once found digitally ready after both the stages (before and after receipt ofthe examination kit). 9. Noting that there are number of risks such as failure of power supply or internet connectivity or remote proctoring kit or failure of the kit to reach candidate at the given address etc. which may not be directly a fault of candidate appearing for the examination and also the necessity to ensure sanctity of the examination system, a list of such issues is being attached as Annexure 2 along with each issue resultant impact on examination results, refund of charges etc. 10. candidates enrolled for competency courses, or who have already completed and passed required courses of the MTrs while applying for written examination on the Directorate E-Governance portal shall be given option to opt either for remote digital written examination by proctoring, or for physical examination at examinations centres of the MMD. After eligibility is assessed by MMD and the candidates have paid the requisite exam fees, the candidate who has opted for remote digital written exam, will have to visit www.e-examination.in for registration and payment of requisite additional charges for e- examination. 11. candidates opting for remote digital written examination by proctoring need to immediately book their seats (this is after booking of seat on the present e- governance system along with payment of exam fees) of the practice exam, on the same website www.e-examinations.in and pay requisite additional charges for these digital services, remote proctoring kit and refundable deposit as detailed in Annexure 1. 12' The remote proctoring kit shalr be obtained by the candidate through the portal. Training sessions may be undertaken for handring the exams digitaly. The practice examination will not be counted and is being provided for the benefit of the candidates for practice purposes ahead of the pilot examination.13. lt may be noted that a maximum of 200 Candidates each for Nautical and Engineering grade examinations shall only be permitted to appear for the practice and the subsequent pilot examinations on a first come first basis. 14. Noting that sanctity of any digital examination is always subjected to scrutiny a list of do's and don'ts has developed and attached as Annexure 3 to be strictly complied with by the Candidates. The video / audio of the entire examination wil! be recorded and wil! be available for analysis. 15. On successful conduct of this pilot examination the Directorate shal! come out with detailed procedures for conduct of written examination on both the modes, that is physical (subjea to lock-down situation) and digital modes and the Candidate shall be free to choose one of the two options. lffiA "fu" ,0 )- ) (Amitabh Ku Director General of Shipping & Additional Secretary to the Govt. of lndiaAnnexure 1 Disital Examination: Additional Charses oavable to the lT service provider The following table gives the grade wise concessionary fees for conduct of pilot e- Examinations. Nautical Engineering Grade Charges Per Grade Charges Per Paper (lNR) Paper (lNR) 2ndMate : Terrestrial and 500 MEO Class lV: Marine 500 Coastal Navigation Engineering Practice A lease rate of Rs. 100/- per exam for camera and Rs. 100/- per exam for the base unit required for Remote Proctoring. Delivery and collection charges and applicable taxes will be additional. The refundable security deposit is being waived for the purposes ofthe pilot Examination only.Annexure 2 Risk and lmpacts lmpact on lmpact of Remote lmpact on Exam additional Risk lmpact on Exam Proctoringe Kit Fee Charges for Pilot charges for Pilot exam exam Misconduct (this includes any indication of cheating, possession of mobile phone, ln case the possession of candidate's conduct is any not reference found Forfeited Forfeited Forfeited material appropriate, action as including books per MS (STCW) Rules or outside help will be taken. or any other activity deemed suspicious at the discretion of the invisilator) The candidate shall continue to give exam and not leave his/her place. lt may be noted that video/audio of the entire will examination be recorded for analysis of the candidate's conduct post Failure of lnternet examination by the without failure of Directorate. Once power: Permitted internet is restored, (except unless the video/audio recording paper is started) and exam answer Forfeited Fo rfeited Forfeited for a data will total be duration of 5 synchronized. Minutes in one or lf the Internet is not more failures sufficiently restored till the designated Exam Time for Completion (ETC) or the candidate is offline for more than 5 in minutes total either in one go or through several disruptions, then the exam answer dataavailable with the e- examination system will be considered as a full submission. The Video will be reviewed and in case it is noted that Candidate was involved in unfair means during the disruption, his exam will be marked fail. Failure The exam answer of data available with Candidate's the e-examination computer system will be Forfeited Fo rfeited Fo rfe ited including power considered as a full fa ilu re submission. Failure of The candidate will candidate's front not be allowed to facing camera appear or continue Forfeited Forfeited Forfeited prior or during with the exam the exam Failure to deliver The candidate will The The candidate's The candidate's / receive Remote not be allowed to candidate's booking will be booking will be Proctoring Kit appear for exam booking will be transferred for transferred for and / or cameras transferred for next exam next exam to Candidate next exam Failure of The candidate will The candidate's The candidate's The candidate's Remote not be allowed to booking will be booking will be booking will be Proctoring Kit appear for exam transferred for transferred for transferred for and / or both next exam next exam next exam supplied cameras prior start of exam eFa xilu are m d ue to e- The candidate will ln case the ln case the ln case the system not be allowed to examination is examination is examination is anomalies or one appear or continue declared declared declared supplied camera with the exam invalid after invalid after invalid after prior or during evaluation, the evaluation, the evaluation, the the exam candidate's candidate's candidate's booking will be booking will be booking will be transferred for transferred for transferred for next exam. next exam. next exam. Failure of both The candidate will supplied not be allowed to camera's during continue with the exam exam. The exam answer data available with Forfeited Forfeited Forfeited the e-examination system will be considered as a full submissionAnnexure 3 Do's and Don'ts for the candidate 1. The candidates should note that the examination will be monitored by a DGS / MMD appointed lnvigilator. The use of any mobile phones, unauthorized reference material, any other object, item etc. that can be interpreted as means of cheating in the examination is prohibited and should be left out of the examination room. The candidate should have a clear desk. Wearing of jackets, boots and shoes or any other garment / apparel such as shawls, etc. shall not be allowed. However, the candidates may keep a water bottle and should show any belongings to the invigilator, The candidates will be required to read and acknowledge a declaration regarding the conduct of the examination. 2. The answers/responses and / or images captured (pen and paper based) shall be entered into the system usinB the functions of the "E-Examinations system" application. 3. Use of pen, paper and other basic stationary is allowed during the exam for making diagrams, sketching, answering numerical, etc. The same is to be submitted through the image capture function along with the digital answer sheets. The candidate, after taking the photograph, should crop the image to ensure that his/her face is not being captured with the image as this will be considered as;ntent to reveal identity and the candidate will be disqualified from the examination. 4. Any additional reference material required for completion of the examination provided by the DGs, for example, Tide tables, Almanac, etc. will be provided to the candidate in the digital format. A digital calculator is also provided and the candidates are not permitted to use their own calculators during the examination. The candidate is not required to bring any other additional material other than plain paper and basic stationery for the examination. 5. The candidates should set up the examination kit as perthe instructions provided and log in to the "e- Examination Systems" about 60 min prior to the exam. As soon as the candidate logs in to the e-Examinations system, his/her video and audio feed will be under the invigilator's supervision.6. Procedure for placement of the cameras to be used during invigilation, as described in the candidate user manual, should be strictly complied with. Guidance will be provided during ESTART. 7. There will be automated steps for candidate verification, however, if prompted by the invigilator, the candidate should present their documents and identify themselves. 8. once the verification process is completed, the candidates should settle down and await further instructions to appear on their screens. 9. The candidate may contact the invigilator through the audio and/or text chat function to clarify any doubts or for any other matters related to the examination. Both audio and chat functions are available on the candidate dashboard. 10' The candidate may use the technical assistance chat function for any lT related matters that may come up during the examination. 11. The candidate shall not leave the room without the invigilator,s permission during the scheduled Time for Exam period (srEp) including the time taken for upload ofthe data. 12. ln the event of internet connectivity dropout, the examination will continue and the candidate must continue completing the examination. However, the data including audio and video will be recorded. on restoration of the internet connectivity, the data will be synchronised. 13. ln the event of a total power failure resulting in shut down of Laptop or pc, that particular examination paper will be terminated immediately. 14. The candidate must submit the exam before the end of the scheduled exam duration. ln the event of non-submission by the candidate within the allotted duration, the system will automatically submit the exam at the end of the scheduled duraticn.