Supreme Court Seeks Centre, CBSE Response On Permanent Fix For On-Screen Marking Glitches

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on establishing a permanent mechanism to address glitches in the board's on-screen marking (OSM) system. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked the government to place its response on record and posted the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.

The court's intervention comes amid petitions alleging that problems with the digital evaluation system affected Class 12 students' board results and, consequently, their higher-education prospects.

SC asks Centre to consider permanent mechanism

The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said a long-term mechanism was needed to prevent similar problems in future examinations.

“Earlier, you stated that there are teething problems and a one-member commission is looking into these aspects,” the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre.

Mehta said the government had prepared a note on the issue but needed to discuss it with the authorities before placing it before the court.

The court subsequently asked the government to respond by Monday, with the matter scheduled to be heard on Tuesday.

1.68 lakh students benefited from revaluation

The Centre had earlier told the court that a one-week window was provided for students who had grievances over their evaluation to apply for revaluation.

According to the government, around 1.68 lakh students benefited from the process.

However, advocate Rakesh Binjola, who has challenged aspects of the OSM system, argued that the figure was inadequate given the number of students affected.

Binjola told the court that nearly 3 lakh students appeared for compartment examinations and argued that the revaluation window should be reopened because many students were unaware of the deadline.

The bench asked the government to consider reopening the window for another week.

Mehta, however, said this could be difficult because the deadline had been deliberately fixed in view of the schedule of other competitive examinations.

Petitioners seek relief for students left out

The Supreme Court asked the petitioner to identify categories of students who may still have been unable to benefit from the revaluation process.

The bench specifically asked for details of students who could not provide the required documents or were unable to apply within the window because of technological difficulties.

Binjola has sought a regulatory framework for CBSE examinations conducted through OSM and called for a high-powered committee to oversee its implementation.

He has also sought relaxation of minimum qualifying marks for students who have secured provisional admissions or cleared entrance examinations, arguing that flaws in the evaluation process adversely affected their board scores.

The petitioner also told the court that some students were yet to receive copies of their evaluated answer scripts.

CBSE's OSM rollout faced scrutiny

The Centre had constituted a one-member inquiry committee in June to examine concerns surrounding the rollout of OSM for Class 12 examinations.

The controversy has also led to administrative changes within CBSE. The government transferred CBSE chairperson Rahul Singh and repatriated the board's secretary, Himanshu Gupta, to his parent cadre following concerns over discrepancies in the digital evaluation of Class 12 answer scripts.

Hindustan Times had earlier reported that the contract for the OSM system was awarded to Coempt Edu Teck just 74 days before the Class 12 board examinations, following multiple modifications to the tender process.

The Supreme Court will now consider the government's proposed measures and the petitioners' concerns over students who may have been left without an effective remedy.