NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday announced that its portal for Class 12 answer sheet verification and re-evaluation will be operational from June 1 after days of technical disruptions and complaints from students.
The Board said the move was aimed at ensuring a “transparent and glitch-free process” for post-result activities.
The designated portal had first crashed on May 19, the opening day for applications, due to heavy traffic. Students later reported repeated technical glitches and intermittent shutdowns while trying to apply for re-evaluation.
Many candidates complained of difficulties accessing the system, with several reporting maintenance errors, excess fee deductions and payments being processed without receipts during crucial submission windows.
Following mounting concerns, CBSE initiated a technical review of its digital infrastructure. A four-member expert team comprising specialists from Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur is currently conducting a comprehensive audit of the Board’s IT ecosystem.
According to V Kamakoti, the team will carry out a technical assessment and submit a confidential report to the Board.
The controversy comes amid criticism over discrepancies in evaluation. Several Class 12 students who accessed their answer scripts alleged incorrect marking, including errors in responses they believed were accurate.
The complaints have raised concerns over the reliability of CBSE’s newly introduced Onscreen Marking System (OSM), which was used this year to digitally evaluate scanned answer sheets.
However, CBSE on Wednesday rejected claims that the OSM portal had been compromised. The Board maintained that the system remained secure, though it acknowledged that certain discrepancies had surfaced during the first-time implementation of the digital evaluation process.
Responding to the issue earlier, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “This was the first time CBSE used the OSM process. I take responsibility and assure that a solution will be found. No student’s query will go unaddressed.”
According to official data, nearly 98 lakh answer books were scanned and evaluated digitally this year.
As of May 26, CBSE had received over 4.04 lakh applications from students seeking access to their answer scripts, covering more than 11.31 lakh answer books. Of these, over 8.98 lakh answer books have already been shared digitally.
Meanwhile, amid growing criticism of the OSM system, CBSE allegedly circulated a document titled “Material for Principals” to affiliated schools.
The document reportedly contained ready-made talking points, scripted responses and suggested social media messaging for school heads. Principals were allegedly advised to reassure parents and project confidence in the digital evaluation process despite ongoing complaints related to blurred scans, missing pages, technical glitches and discrepancies in accessing answer sheets.
Soon after, several principals shared videos praising the OSM system, with many reportedly using language closely resembling the suggested content in the document.