56,000 Student Complaints Trigger Government Probe Into New CBSE Marking System

The Central government has ordered a one-member panel to investigate how services were procured for the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) new On-Screen Marking (OSM) platform, following the abrupt removal of CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta on Tuesday. This major bureaucratic shake-up coincides with fierce criticism from the Delhi Parents Association (DPA), which claims the digital assessment system for Class 12 scripts was rolled out prematurely without proper teacher training, preparation, or feedback.

The leadership overhaul highlights a widening crisis over the automated grading initiative. While the ministry and CBSE insist that the OSM framework ensures precision, transparency, and a standardised evaluation flow by wiping out manual totalling errors, the DPA warns of deep systemic vulnerabilities. As widespread grading anomalies provoke anger among Class 12 students, the newly activated online re-checking gateway has already logged over 56,000 complaints, intensifying demands for localized data logs and an official review of examiner qualifications.

Speaking to PTI, DPA president Aprajita Gautam claimed that the trial run for the digital evaluation system was conducted over a short period and involved only a limited number of teachers.

"The trial run was done for a very short period. Proper feedback was not taken from teachers. The sample size was also very small because the focus was more on whether the system could handle the load," Gautam said.

She alleged that many teachers were unable to devote sufficient time to familiarise themselves with the system as they were occupied with academic responsibilities in schools.

"The teachers whose primary responsibility is teaching students and ensuring school performance could not take out enough time to practise. Whether they checked papers or practised adequately was not given due attention," she said.

Her remarks come amid growing concerns raised by students over discrepancies in Class 12 results following the introduction of OSM this year. Responding to CBSE's assertion that the new system had enhanced transparency and was well received by evaluators, Gautam said complaints from students suggested otherwise, PTI reported.

"After seeing so much evidence being shared by students, if officials still say everything is fine, it is very sad. Why not acknowledge that mistakes may have happened? Students are showing proof and saying their papers were not checked properly and marks were not awarded," she said.

She also criticised the functioning of the re-evaluation process, alleging that many students faced difficulties accessing the portal during the initial stages.

"There are many students who could not access the first step of the process and do not even have photocopies of their answer sheets. How will they seek redressal?" she asked.

Gautam further questioned the interpretation of the nearly 4.5 lakh applications reportedly submitted for verification and re-evaluation.

"We need to know where these applications are coming from. The data should be made public, state-wise and city-wise. A large number of students are from government schools and rural areas where access to computers and technical support is limited. Many may not have been able to apply at all," she claimed.

According to PTI, the board on Tuesday said the online portal had received a total of 43,980 applications for verification and re-evaluation of answer sheets as of 12 noon. Later, it said the number had crossed 56,000 as of 9:30 pm.

The CBSE on Tuesday opened the online portal for verification of issues observed in scanned copies of answer books and re-evaluation of answers for students dissatisfied with their boards exam evaluation. The portal was launched after a delay, with the CBSE having earlier said that applications for verification and re-evaluation of answer books were expected to begin by May 29. The board said that the portal will remain open till June 6 (midnight), and no offline applications or requests submitted after the deadline will be accepted.

The DPA chief also alleged that, due to a shortage of evaluators, some answer scripts may have been assessed by Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs) instead of Post Graduate Teachers (PGTs), who are generally assigned Class 12 evaluation work.

"I came to know about this from teachers who were involved in checking papers. We got this information when the rechecking window opened," she said.

Calling for an inquiry into the matter, Gautam said CBSE should disclose details regarding the evaluators engaged for the exercise.

"How many TGTs and PGTs were hired? State-wise data should be made public. Since evaluators are paid according to the number of papers checked, the records are available and can be verified," she said.

(With inputs from PTI)