Pune: Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has decided to allow students to verify their degree certificates online before the convocation ceremony, starting this academic year.Officials stated that this move will help students correct errors in names and other details on the draft certificates, sparing them a trip to the university for corrections after the final certificates are issued. This is particularly important for job-related or visa verification, which requires the name on the marksheet and degree certificate to match exactly.Rajendra Talware, director, board of examinations and evaluation at SPPU, said the aim is to prevent the waste of time, effort, and money spent on correcting documents. “For the degree certificate, the software pulls names from the student’s eligibility record, which is created when they enroll at the university. However, students sometimes change their names or spellings, which may not be reflected in the existing documents. Another common issue—and the most prevalent cause of errors—occurs when names are transliterated into Marathi. Because the two languages have different phonetic systems, the transliteration is often incorrect. There are also issues when titles are included with the mother’s name,” said Talware.The university has begun providing a preview of the data that will appear on the convocation certificate once a student completes the online application form. This allows students to flag spelling and transliteration errors before the data is finalised.“We have opened the portal for the convocation scheduled for September 10 and have already received over 1 lakh applications. The percentage of errors is low. We will keep the preview window open for three to four days before finalizing and printing the certificates. If a student spots an error, they can submit suggested corrections, which will be verified by the university before being incorporated into the final certificate. Previously, any correction required the student to submit a form and pay a fee of Rs500, after which the university would verify the details and send the corrected certificate by post. We hope this move will significantly improve accuracy,” Talware added.
