New Delhi: Following the declaration of the Class 12th board examination results by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), a wave of widespread dissatisfaction and disappointment has emerged among students and parents across the country. This year, for the first time, the board implemented the Digital Evaluation or On-Screen Marking (OSM) system on a large scale. However, this modern technology has now become the biggest trigger for students’ outrage.
Students and parents believe that this new system has ruined a year of hard work. The primary reasons for the students’ dissatisfaction are as follows:
1. Unexpectedly Low Marks and JEE Pass Students Marked as Failed
After the declaration of the results, a large number of students were shocked to see their marks. Students have received unexpectedly lower marks, especially in core subjects like Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry. The most shocking cases involve students who have successfully cleared JEE Main—one of the country’s toughest engineering entrance exams—but have been given extremely low marks or marked as failed in the board examinations. Students argue that how can someone who cracks a national-level competitive exam fail a school board exam?
2. Technical Glutches in Digital Evaluation (OSM)
Students and parents are directly alleging large-scale negligence and technical glitches during the digital scanning of answer sheets. Several students have complained that:
When they requested their answer sheets during the re-evaluation process, the scanned copies were blurry.
In multiple instances, allegations have surfaced that the answer sheet of another student was uploaded against a particular student’s roll number.
In one specific case from Delhi, the CBSE itself had to accept that an incorrect Physics answer sheet was uploaded under a student’s roll number, which was later rectified.
3. Ignorance of ‘Step-Wise Marking’ and a ‘Lottery-Like’ System
Angry students have launched social media campaigns with slogans like “Our future is not a game” and “OSM is like a lottery.” Students allege that while checking answer sheets on screens, examiners completely ignored ‘step-wise marking’ (awarding marks for every correct step) and left several correct answers un-evaluated. According to the students, this evaluation process resembles a game of lottery rather than an fair assessment.
4. Exorbitant Fees and Portal Crashes
When dissatisfied students tried to apply to view their scanned answer sheets and register for re-evaluation, they faced a new set of hurdles. The official board portal crashed repeatedly, and online payment attempts failed. The situation escalated when some students shared screenshots on social media showing that the portal was demanding fees running into lakhs of rupees to view the answer sheets for just four subjects.
5. Every Fourth Student Applied for Answer Sheets
The extent of distrust among the students regarding this result can be gauged from the fact that, according to reports, nearly every fourth student has applied to see the scanned copy of their answer sheet. Such a massive volume of re-evaluation applications is itself proof that students are not at all satisfied with their exam outcomes.
Board’s Clarification and Students’ Demand
On the other hand, the CBSE has flatly rejected all these allegations. The board stated that only the medium of assessment (digital) has changed, not the marking scheme. According to the CBSE, 3 lakh teachers were trained to scan and evaluate 98 lakh answer sheets, and the official portal remains completely secure.
However, students are not satisfied with the board’s response. Now, several student organizations and parents are demanding an independent inquiry into the entire matter by an external agency, alongside re-evaluation or a special compartment exam for the affected students.