BOEX Standards & Policies

– Awarding Bhakti Sastri Degrees

– Standards applicable to closed-book assessment sessions

– Guidelines for closed-book exam supervisors

– Standards for Online Bhakti Sastri and Bhakti Vaibhava Degree Assessment

– Policy on Cheating and Penalties

Examination Center Approval

Any ISKCON center or other ISKCON institution may apply to become an Approved Bhakti Sastri Degree Center. Such centers should then conduct programs according to the guidelines given below.

Apply to Become an Approved Bhakti Sastri Degree Center here

            (Provide Link)

Admission Policies

Candidates meet the following requirements:

1. The candidate must certify that s/he chants 16 rounds of japa daily and follows the four regulative principles. {Not required for students in ISCKON authorized Gurukula programs}.
2. The candidate must have been recommended by an ISKCON authority who knows the candidate well, certifying that the candidate is engaged favourably in the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu for at least the previous twelve months.
3. It is recommended that every applicant for admission into a Bhakti Sastri course be pre-qualified. Some of the questions for pre-qualifying the candidate could be:
   1. What is your understanding of Srila Prabhupada’s mood and mission?
   1. What is your objective in taking the BS course?
   1. Describe your previous study of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
   1. What ISKCON seminars / courses have you taken / completed till date?
   1. Have you read Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita? What did you find most appealing in the Lilamrita?

Individual centers may have their own additional admission policies and procedures for admitting a candidate for the Bhakti Sastri degree.

Program Administration Policies

1. Bhakti Sastri program administrators must take responsibility for the quality of instruction and must make sure that all standards are being met. They shall appoint a qualified Lead Instructor to oversee the assessment. The minimum qualification for a Lead Instructor is the successful completion of the Bhakti Sastri course and VTE courses Teacher Training Part 1 and Bhakti Sastri Teacher Training, or equivalent courses as certified by the BOEX. Exceptions to this rule shall only be permitted by special resolution of the BOEX. It is recommended that all teachers involved in the program have taken Teacher Training Part 1.
2. The BOEX may assess each approved center’s program to ascertain if the learning outcomes are being satisfactorily achieved. The Board retains the right to discontinue certification should it determine that the program has been significantly deficient.

Assessment

Teachers should select questions from the BOEX Question Bank within the following boundaries:

(Provide Link)

1. 50-65% for open book questions assessing student’s depth of understanding, application and values in respect to the themes and content of the four Bhakti Sastri books. Required answers shall either be in the form of essays or else compositions of at least several paragraphs each. The sum of the minimum required words for the answers should be at least 7,500. No more than 20% of submitted answers can be cut and paste from elsewhere.
2. 30-40% for closed book tests requiring:
3. The answering of at least seventy-five short-answer questions, 45 on Bhagavad gita, 15 on Nectar of Devotion, 7 on Nectar of Instruction, and 7 on Sri Isopanisad.
4. Being able to recite from memory with proper pronunciation the original Sanskrit text and approximate meaning of at least 45 verses found in the four Bhakti Sastri books.
5. 5-10% for personal Vaisnava behaviour, punctuality, sadhana, extra-curricular service, co-operative mood, and ability to function as part of a team.
6. The following shows the minimum requirement standard for being deemed as passing the course. Centers can set their minimum requirement for passing higher than this if they so desire:

Assessment Area	Minimum Passing Level	Remedy for Failure
Open book assessment	60% in each unit (see also Note 1 below)	Failed papers may be resubmitted
Closed book assessment	65% in each unit (“)	The student can again sit for a (different) test. However, where student’s scores are less than 50% they should retake the classes and closed book assessments for the unit.
Sloka assessment	65% in each unit (“)	The student may apply for a time extension at the discretion of the Lead Instructor.
Personal Behavior	Adequate	None
Attendance	75% for each unit (see also Note 2 below)	Retake the unit
Weighted aggregate	None specified (see also Note 3 below)	At discretion of center.

•  

Note 1: The following are the “units” for Bhakti Sastri:

            Sri Isopanisad

            Nectar of Instruction

            Nectar of Devotion

            Bhagavad-gita broken into two or three units. Either chapters 1-9 and 10-18 or chapters 1-6, 7-12, and 13-18.

Certification

The names of successful candidates should be forwarded to the Secretary of the MOE, (office@iskconeducation.org) who supplies the digital certificates which can be printed by the Exam Center. Hard copy certificates may also be provided at additional cost.

• Students should approach the closed-book assessment in a mood of loving devotional service to Krishna and Srila Prabhupada without a spirit of false competition, enviousness, or the desire for prestige.
• No notes, computers, cell phones, student handbooks or sastric texts may be accessed during the closed-book assessment. Computers and cell phones must be turned off at all times.
• Students found to be accessing notes, computers, cell phones, student handbooks, sastric texts, or communicating in any way with others during the closed-book assessment, will be subject to penalty according to the policies established by the ISKCON Board of Examinations in the accompanying document, “Policy on Cheating and Penalties”.
• Students may consult dictionaries during the closed-book assessment.
• Students for whom the language of the exam is not their native language may be allowed extra time.

• Photocopied exam papers must be kept strictly confidential before the exam.
• Arrange seating in such a way that there is sufficient distance between students to ensure that students cannot view each others’ papers.
• Display the Standards Applicable to Closed-Book Assessment Sessions and the Policy on Cheating and Penalties in the classroom well in advance of the assessment session and review them with the students before commencing.
• Before beginning, remind students to approach the exam in a mood of devotion.
• Students may consult dictionaries during the exam. Randomly check dictionaries being used for any concealed notes.
• Ensure that a supervisor is present during the entire exam session. The supervisor must vigilantly ensure that Standards Applicable to Closed-Book Assessment Sessions are maintained.
• The supervisor may take questions from the students, but only to clarify any questions on the paper.
• All question papers must be collected and not taken away by students, and then destroyed. A single copy may be retained under lock and key in the permanent files of the center.

Hearing and Study Requirements

The number of students participating in online classes should not exceed 24.

• Total hours of live streaming and recorded classes, and private study, must be within
  i. Bhakti-sastri: 100 to 200 hours.
  ii. Bhakti-vaibhava: 400 to 600 hours
• Real time interactions in the form of online discussion, break-out groups, question and answer sessions, and personal tutoring must be within
  i. Bhakti-sastri: 30 to 150 hours.
  ii. Bhakti-vaibhava: 100 to 400 hours

Assessment Minimum Requirements

• Closed book short answer questions
  i. Bhakti-sastri: 60 Questions
  ii. Bhakti-vaibhava: 200 Questions

• Closed book short essay questions
  i. Bhakti-sastri: 2500 Words
  ii. Bhakti-vaibhava: 10000 Words
• Open book essays
  i. Bhakti-sastri: 5000 Words
  ii. Bhakti-vaibhava: 20000 Words
• Presentations
  i. Bhakti-vaibhava: 4 Presentations of 45-60 Mins
• Slokas for Memorization
  i. Bhakti-sastri: 45 Verses
  ii. Bhakti-vaibhava: 70 Verses

Facilitators should issue Questions and Presentation Topics from the BOEX Bhakti-sastri & Bhakti-vaibhava degree question banks.

Closed Book and Sloka Assessment Options

1. Individual students, or student groups in a local area, may arrange for a responsible devotee to invigilate the closed book assessments. The invigilator supervises the assessment within the specified time, wherein students cannot consult books or devices, or each other. The invigilator sends scanned copies of the completed papers to the facilitator.
2. The facilitator can conduct oral examinations of individual students via live-streaming video.
3. Facilitators can directly observe a candidate via two live-streaming cameras, providing view of both the student and the student’s screen. The facilitator would then send the question paper to the candidate, to be visible on the student’s screen. The student would write answers with pen and paper and submit a scanned copy of the completed paper to the facilitator.
4. Facilitators can arrange to directly observe a candidate via live-streaming camera together with the use of software such as Google Classroom that guarantees that the computer user cannot switch windows until the completed paper is submitted to the facilitator. The facilitator would then send the question paper to the candidate to be filled up on the student’s screen.

Oral Presentation Assessment Options

1. The student gives the presentations live in view of the facilitator on Zoom/ Skype/ Webbed, etc., followed by questions and answers.
2. The student video-records the presentation and uploads the unedited video file, with a question and answer session on a subsequent call.
3. The student gives presentations at an appropriate location in the presence of the facilitator or a qualified assessor, followed by questions and answers.

It is recommended that wherever possible the other students in the class also hear the presentations and participate in the question and answer sessions.

Note: If due to current Covid-19 pandemic conditions it is necessary for existing classroom-based programs to complete the course online, then the relevant portions of the above shall be applicable. Alternatively, closed book exams and presentations for such programs may be postponed until appropriate circumstances are available whereby assessments can be conducted according to the existing BOEX guidelines for on-site assessment.

Type of Cheating	Category of Offense	Penalty for First Offense	Penalty for Second Offense
Open Book Assessment Paraphrasing significant material from another student’s / author’s paper	One	▪ Rewrite specific papers ▪ 20 percentage points marks reduction on open book grade for unit. ▪ Submission of an additional essay based on the bhakti sastras on the topic of integrity and honesty as a quality of a vaisnava.	▪ Expelled from course ▪ Record of cheating to be made available to all approved examination centers.
Open Book Assessment Copying verbatim from another student’s / author’s paper	One	▪ Rewrite specific papers ▪ 25 percentage points marks reduction on open book grade for unit. ▪ Submission of an additional essay based on the bhakti sastras on the topic of integrity and honesty as a quality of a vaisnava	▪ Expelled from course ▪ Record of cheating to be made available to all approved examination centers.
Closed Book Assessment Communicating with another student during a closed book test (signaling / whispering)	One	▪ Sit for another closed book test ▪ 20 percentage points marks reduction on closed book grade for unit. ▪ Submission of an additional essay based on the bhakti sastras on the topic of integrity and honesty as a quality of a vaisnava.	▪ Expelled from course ▪ Record of cheating to be made available to all approved examination centers.
Closed Book Assessment Passing notes between students during closed book test	Two	▪ Expelled from course ▪ Record of cheating to be made available to all approved examination centers.	▪ Expelled from course ▪ Banned from participating in Board of Examinations -approved programs.
Closed Book Assessment Smuggling notes or electronic devices into closed book test	Two	▪ Expelled from course ▪ Record of cheating to be made available to all approved examination centers. ▪ Five year ban on participating in Board of Examinations – approved programs	▪ Expelled from course ▪ Banned from participating in Board of Examinations -approved programs.