Union Minister Pradhan accepts CBSE's digital evaluation errors, promises action

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has publicly accepted responsibility for the discrepancies that have emerged with the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. This system, implemented for the first time on a large scale for the evaluation of Class 12 board examination answer sheets, has led to significant concerns among students and parents regarding marking errors, technical glitches, and issues with the re-evaluation portal. Pradhan assured that all student queries would be addressed and that strict action would be taken against anyone found intentionally responsible for these irregularities, regardless of their position within or outside the CBSE. The OSM system, which involves scanning answer sheets and evaluating them digitally, was introduced with the aim of enhancing transparency and reducing human error. However, its large-scale implementation this year has been marred by numerous issues. Students have reported discrepancies such as incorrect marking, blurred or incomplete scanned copies of answer sheets, missing pages, and mismatched responses. These problems have caused considerable anxiety, particularly as Class 12 results are crucial for university admissions. In response to the growing concerns, the Ministry of Education has taken several steps to rectify the situation. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan chaired a high-level meeting with CBSE officials to address the technical and payment-related issues plaguing the re-evaluation and verification processes. Furthermore, experts from premier technical institutions, including IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras, have been engaged to review the OSM system's software, coding structure, and technical framework. Their mandate is to help identify and resolve the technical glitches that have surfaced, ensuring a more robust and glitch-free process going forward. Pradhan emphasized that the OSM system is a globally accepted, student-centric approach to evaluation, and acknowledged that while it's a step towards modernization, its first large-scale application has revealed certain challenges. He stressed that the government is committed to finding solutions and ensuring that no student is left unaddressed. The minister also urged against politicizing the issue, emphasizing that the focus should remain on providing relief and support to students. The scale of the problem is substantial, with nearly 40 crore answer sheet pages scanned and over 17 lakh students appearing for the Class 12 examinations. A significant number of students, around four lakh, have requested scanned copies of their evaluated answer sheets, and approximately 1.1 million copies have been requested for re-evaluation and verification. The technical issues on the post-result services portal, including server downtime and payment gateway failures, further exacerbated the situation, preventing many students from applying for re-evaluation within the stipulated deadlines. While the CBSE has clarified that its main OSM portal was not hacked, there were attempts at cyberattacks on its post-result services portal, which were mitigated without any data breach. The ongoing efforts to improve the OSM system, involving technical experts and a commitment to transparency, aim to restore public trust in the examination process. The Delhi High Court, in a separate development, has rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the CBSE's OSM system, directing students to pursue individual remedies through the established grievance redressal mechanisms. The situation highlights the critical need for robust digital infrastructure, thorough testing, and effective communication in educational reforms, especially those involving large-scale digital processes. The broader context of NEP 2020 and its emphasis on competency-based education is also relevant, as the CBSE has been progressively aligning its assessment practices with these goals. The OSM system is seen as part of these reforms to promote critical thinking and application of concepts. However, the current controversy underscores the challenges in balancing technological advancement with ensuring fairness, accuracy, and accessibility for all students during critical examination periods.

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