The Union Education Ministry plans to expand its audit of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s on-screen marking system to include a complete review of the implementation of the platform – from the tender process to the actual implementation – amid concerns over glitches and issues related to assessment, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The move comes in the wake of outrage among parents and teachers, and a series of HT reports covering what appears to be a rushed process to roll out a brand new mechanism for recording nearly 10 million answer texts despite concerns from those who have tested the system.
“The ministry’s immediate focus is to stabilize the re-evaluation portal with the help of IIT teams so that students can apply for scanned copies, raise objections and seek verification seamlessly,” added this person, who requested anonymity. “After completing the re-evaluation process, the IIT team will also review the OSM website and examine the system from tender stage to actual implementation. Further actions and system modifications will depend on the findings of the team. Action will be taken against the officials and companies as well if any irregularities are detected,” the person added.
The official said that no funds have been disbursed to Coempt Edu Teck so far pending review of contractual obligations.
Meanwhile, CBSE has postponed the launch of its portal for verification and revaluation of Class 12 answer papers from May 29 to June 1, 2026, to ensure a “transparent and error-free” process for students.
IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agrawal said fixing errors in the revaluation portal remains the top priority.
“We aim to have the portal up and running smoothly by June 1. Teams from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras have been working for the past six days and identified issues with the website architecture,” he said.
CBSE officials said the portal will be reopened on June 1 for students who have already received scanned copies of assessed answer books, allowing them to raise objections to questions where they believe marks have not been awarded correctly. “These responses will then be re-evaluated through the OSM system by subject matter experts,” an Education Ministry official said.
The audit comes as CBSE has acknowledged about 20 cases of mix-ups in answer sheets after results, and as nearly one in four of the nearly 1.8 million students who appeared for Class 12 exams have applied for scanned copies of their answer books – a 208% increase from last year.
