As CBSE’s new digital evaluation system comes under intense scrutiny over technical glitches and student complaints, questions are also being raised over how large-scale digitisation is being managed in India’s
examination system.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced an On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 board exams this year, shifting millions of answer sheets to a fully digital evaluation process. But the rollout has now faced criticism over blurred scans, missing pages, alleged mismatched answer sheets, and payment system failures during re-evaluation.
Amid the controversy, several students have claimed that the scanned copies they received did not match their handwriting, raising serious concerns about possible errors in tagging, scanning, or upload of answer books.
ALSO READ: ‘This Is Not My Handwriting’: CBSE Class 12 Student Says Uploaded Physics Answer Sheet Is ‘Completely Different’
What the system is meant to do?
Under the OSM system, over 98 lakh answer sheets from more than 18 lakh students were evaluated digitally for the first time. Each answer booklet is assigned a unique code before being moved from exam centres to regional offices for scanning and upload.
Teachers then evaluate the scripts on a secure online portal using a structured marking scheme. The system is designed to ensure step-by-step marking, where every answer must be assessed before submission, with marks automatically calculated by the platform.
CBSE officials say around 13,000 answer books were found illegible and were evaluated manually to avoid errors.
Student complaints and public outrage
Concerns first gained traction after students began sharing their grievances on social media. A Delhi student alleged that the Physics answer sheet provided to him during re-evaluation did not match his handwriting at all.
He claimed differences in writing style, spacing, and structure, and questioned whether his actual paper had been evaluated. His post quickly went viral, drawing both support and criticism online.
Other students also reported similar issues, including blurred scans, missing pages, and in some cases, pages that appeared to belong to different candidates.
Another Class 12 student alleged that her Chemistry answer sheet did not match her handwriting, despite the first page appearing correct. She also said she had received unusually low marks and was unable to reach CBSE through helpline numbers.
ALSO READ: CBSE 12th Results: Extended Deadline To Apply For Scanned Answer Sheets Ends Today
CBSE response
The CBSE has said all complaints are being taken up on priority and that officials are actively addressing grievances. The board has also stated that no case is being ignored and that some issues have already been resolved.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has also directed that teams of professors and technical experts from IIT-Madras and IIT-Kanpur be deputed to examine all the technical issues reported since the rollout of this year’s re-evaluation services and assist the CBSE in ensuring a glitch-free process.
Earlier, Pradhan also spoke to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and sought her ministry’s support to overhaul the CBSE payment gateway system.
During the discussion, it was decided that four public sector banks (PSBs) — the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Indian Bank — will assist the CBSE in strengthening its payment gateway infrastructure and the necessary integration with the post-examination portal, the education ministry said in a statement.
(With inputs from PTI)
