NEW DELHI: The Government Schools Teachers’ Association (GSTA) has strongly objected to show cause notices issued to teachers across Delhi government schools over a reported decline in Class XII results, arguing that technical flaws in the evaluation process, rather than teaching standards, are responsible for the drop in performance.
In a letter addressed to Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood, the association on Wednesday said the introduction of the On Screen Marking (OSM) system by the Central Board of Secondary Education this year was implemented without adequate preparation, leading to widespread discrepancies in assessment. Teachers reported issues such as blurred scanned answer sheets, missing pages, incorrect uploads, and difficulty in interpreting handwriting, all of which affected marking accuracy.
According to GSTA, these technical glitches forced evaluators to adopt stricter marking practices to avoid errors, ultimately contributing to lower scores. The association noted that after the results were declared, a large number of students and parents complained about marks being significantly below expectations, with many also facing problems during the re-evaluation process.
Despite these systemic concerns, teachers were held accountable through show cause notices and memorandums, a move the association termed “unfair and unjustified.” In its representation, GSTA argued that examination outcomes depend on multiple factors, including student performance and learning abilities, and cannot be attributed solely to teachers.
Ajay Veer Yadav, General Secretary of GSTA, said the decision to issue show cause notices to teachers was “deeply demoralising” and overlooked the larger systemic failures in the evaluation process. “Teachers are being unfairly made scapegoats for what are clearly technical and procedural lapses in the On Screen Marking system. When answer sheets are blurred, incomplete, or incorrectly uploaded, how can the responsibility be fixed on evaluators alone? This not only affects the morale of the teaching community but also distracts from the real issue that needs urgent correction,” he said.
He further stressed that the focus should be on ensuring justice for students rather than penalising teachers. “The priority at this stage must be to address the grievances of students who feel they have been marked unfairly due to system errors. If required, teachers are ready to step in for manual re-evaluation to restore confidence in the process. However, holding teachers solely accountable without acknowledging the shortcomings of a newly introduced system is neither fair nor constructive. The government must adopt a more consultative and balanced approach,” Yadav added.
The association demanded immediate withdrawal of all notices issued to teachers and called for the results to be reviewed in the context of OSM-related shortcomings. It also urged authorities to adopt a more consultative approach, suggesting that the system should have been introduced as a pilot project before full-scale implementation.
Echoing these concerns in a public statement, GSTA said the “future of children should not be affected by errors of OSM” and asserted that teachers are willing to conduct manual re-evaluation if required to ensure fairness.
