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The Ministry of Education on Sunday rejected concerns over the use of On-Screen Marking (OSM) in Class 12 board exams, asserting that the system has long been part of the Central Board of Secondary Education evaluation process and does not impact students’ scores.
Addressing a press conference, School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar said OSM is an internationally accepted practice aimed at ensuring transparency in evaluation and added that special care was taken to maintain accuracy in marking.
He also said the CBSE has reduced the fee for re-evaluation and verification of answer sheets to Rs 100. This comes amid concerns being raised by students and parents that the drop in the pass percentage in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
class 12 exams is due to OSM.
Kumar also said that out of 98 lakh answer sheets evaluated this year, more than 13,000 were manually checked as there were some legibility issues despite repeated scanning of these sheets.
The school education secretary said the OSM system is not something new nor has it been implemented for the first time.
“The CBSE had introduced OSM in 2014. At that time, from a technical perspective, it was felt that continuing it immediately would not be feasible because of the existing infrastructure and setup. However, we have reintroduced it this year,” he said.
He said a major advantage of introducing OSM is the flexibility it provides.
“Earlier, when the CBSE conducted evaluation or marking, it was generally done within the geographical jurisdiction of the respective regional offices. However, with OSM, it has now become possible to have answer sheets evaluated even outside the regional office area,” the school education secretary explained.
Kumar said OSM is being used by many institutions internationally as well as at the national level.
“If we look at school boards, it is used by the International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge boards as well. In fact, it has become a norm internationally because through technology, it enables us to conduct the entire system in a more transparent manner,” he said.
On the evaluation process, Kumar said, “For class 12, 98 lakh sheets were scanned and three levels of security were followed during the process.” During the evaluation process, it was found that in some answer sheets, despite repeated scanning, there were some legibility issues because the ink used was of a very light colour, he said.
“In such cases, the examiners were instructed to evaluate the scripts manually and award marks accordingly. More than 13,000 such answer sheets were separately identified and manually checked. After manual evaluation, the marks obtained were entered into the system.
“Special attention was given to the security levels and related issues so that the marking carried out through on-screen evaluation remained accurate, completely transparent and fair,” he said.
Kumar said the effort is to ensure that no child feels that they received lower marks than they deserved.
“We will simply provide you with a copy of your answer sheet. By merely looking at the answer sheet, it will become evident how the marking was carried out.
“Once you review it, you may realise if there were instances where you should have been awarded higher marks. Since the answer sheets have already been scanned, I do not believe there is any need or any alternative method for a further re-examination,” he said.
The provision for re-evaluation has always existed within the CBSE framework and the process will ensure that the marks awarded, including the totalling of scores, are absolutely accurate, he said.
“The CBSE has decided this time that if students wish to view their answer sheets, they can do so by paying a fee of Rs 100 instead of Rs 700. If they want verification or validation of the answer sheet, that too will cost Rs 100 instead of Rs 500. If they want any particular answer rechecked, the fee will be Rs 25 per question,” Kumar said.
“We have decided that if during re-evaluation, a student’s marks increase, then the amount paid for re-evaluation will be refunded to the student,” he said.
“We are more concerned about the well-being, welfare and mental state of our children. Money is important, but it is not the priority in this particular matter,” he said.
CBSE chairperson Rahul Singh, Joint Secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy Prachi Pandey, and CBSE Controller of Examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj were also present at the press conference.
The CBSE declared the class 12 results on May 13, with over 85 per cent candidates clearing the exams. The results showed that overall, the pass rate dipped by over 3 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, private school representatives backed the broader reform measures introduced by the CBSE, including technological interventions such as the OSM system.
“CBSE-affiliated private schools across India welcome the progressive steps taken by the Ministry of Education and CBSE towards greater transparency, affordability, and technological integration in the evaluation process,” said Bharat Arora, President of the Action Committee Unaided Private Recognised Schools.
“Schools and teachers worked extensively this year to ensure smooth implementation of digital evaluation systems. Going forward, structured feedback from evaluators, schools, and students must become an integral part of future reforms. Ultimately, the success of any examination reform rests on the collective confidence and preparedness of teachers, schools, and learners,” he added.
