NEW DELHI: Facing mounting criticism over its newly reintroduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, the Central Board of Secondary Education on Sunday held a specially convened press conference to address concerns raised by students, parents and educators following the declaration of Class 12 results.
Senior officials of the Board acknowledged the anxiety among stakeholders but firmly defended the digital evaluation process, describing OSM as a “significant step towards ensuring accuracy, transparency and consistency in assessment.”
The Board emphasised that OSM eliminates common human errors such as totalling and tabulation mistakes while ensuring that every answer is evaluated systematically.
"Originally introduced in 2014 but discontinued due to logistical constraints, OSM was reimplemented in 2026 with major technological and procedural upgrades, said an official.
Officials at the conference further highlighted improvements such as intact scanning of answer books, rigorous quality checks, better mapping of teacher resources to digital infrastructure, and extensive training of evaluators prior to assessment.
“Nearly 9.8 million answer books were scanned this year. While initial glitches did occur, they were addressed in real time,” a senior CBSE official said.
Issues such as system overload, teacher login errors and IP whitelisting challenges were resolved through dedicated helplines and technical interventions. Around 68,000 answer scripts had to be rescanned due to quality concerns, while a small number about 13,500 were eventually evaluated manually due to persistent scanning deficiencies.
The Board also responded to criticism regarding stricter marking patterns, particularly in subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, where students alleged loss of marks for using alternative methods.
Officials clarified that evaluators were required to adhere closely to standardised marking schemes prepared by subject experts to maintain uniformity across the country.
“Board examinations are designed to test conceptual clarity and structured responses. The marking scheme already accommodates alternative correct approaches where applicable,” the Board noted.
On concerns about discrepancies between Board marks and competitive exam scores such as Joint Entrance Examination (Main), CBSE stated that the two assessments serve different purposes and cannot be directly compared.
In a move aimed at increasing transparency, CBSE has introduced a structured re-evaluation process. Students can access scanned copies of their evaluated answer sheets, verify marking, and submit grievances. These will be reviewed by subject expert committees before final decisions are communicated.