CHSE Aims to Bring Humanities Stream into Digital Evaluation Era
The Council of Higher Secondary Education in Odisha has taken a significant step toward modernizing examination processes. After nearly ten years of successfully implementing online evaluation for Science and Commerce answer sheets, the council now seeks government approval to extend this digital system to the Humanities stream starting this academic year.
Formal Request Submitted to State Government
Prasanta Kumar Parida, the controller of examinations at CHSE, confirmed the council recently submitted a formal request to the Odisha government. We are waiting for the state government's go-ahead, Parida stated, emphasizing that all necessary provisions for online Humanities evaluation have been prepared for the current year.
The Annual Higher Secondary Examination for 2026 is scheduled to begin on February 18 and continue through March 3. Answer sheet evaluation typically starts around April, giving the council sufficient time to train Humanities evaluators in the digital assessment process if approval comes through.
Addressing Longstanding Infrastructure Challenges
Online evaluation of Science answer scripts began in 2015, with Commerce stream evaluation following just one year later. However, the Humanities stream faced persistent delays due to infrastructure limitations. With a large number of students appearing for the exam in the Humanities stream, there were not many colleges with adequate functional computer laboratories that could serve as digital evaluation zones during those early years.
This infrastructure gap created a significant bottleneck. The sheer volume of Humanities examinees - combined with insufficient computer facilities - made digital evaluation impractical until recently.
Current Readiness and Training Plans
The landscape has changed substantially in recent years. Many colleges across Odisha have developed robust computer laboratories, creating the necessary infrastructure for digital Humanities evaluation. CHSE officials express confidence that digitally correcting the large number of answer sheets in the Humanities stream can now become a reality.
The council has identified approximately 12,000 evaluators for the AHSE examination overall. Among these, about 6,000 are designated for the Humanities stream, while the remaining evaluators already possess training for digitally assessing Science and Commerce answer papers.
Examination Statistics and Security Measures
This year's examination will see substantial participation across all streams:
- 256,707 students registered for Humanities
- 114,363 students enrolled in Science
- 24,621 Commerce candidates
- 5,932 vocational course participants
CHSE has established 211 examination management hubs where question papers will be securely stored. These hubs, primarily located within colleges and universities, will operate under AI camera surveillance for enhanced security. The Controller of Examinations has urged college principals and university registrars to appoint dedicated supervisors for these examination hubs.
The push for Humanities stream digital evaluation represents a major step toward comprehensive examination modernization in Odisha's higher secondary education system.
