The National Students Union of India (NSUI) has approached the Delhi High Court in connection with concerns over alleged irregularities in the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system recently introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education for Class XII board examinations.
In the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the court, the Congress victory sought reopening of the verification process, manual examination of answer sheets in disputed cases, and an independent investigation into the digital assessment, news agency ANI reported.
CBSE introduced the OSM system on a large scale for Class 12 board exams this year, replacing manual checking of physical answer sheets with a system through which scanned copies are evaluated on screen. This eliminates sending copies of answers to examiners, as they are uploaded for digital assessment.
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However, following this year’s Class 12 results, the board’s pass percentage fell to its lowest level in seven years, with students reporting pages missing from their answer sheets, unclear scans and answers left unmarked. In some cases, the answer sheets were reportedly not even theirs.
NSUI also staged a protest on the issue outside the CBSE headquarters in East Delhi’s Patparganj last week.
What does the NSUI petition state?
NSUI stated in its petition that it filed the petition on behalf of thousands of students who appeared for the Class 12 CBSE exams, saying thousands faced difficulties after the results were announced.
The petition cited issues raised by students, including incomplete uploads, mismatched answer booklets, unclear answer sheets, missing pages and unexpectedly low grades, according to ANI. He also highlighted problems in accessing the reassessment and verification portal.
Read also | ‘Blind screening’, series of technical issues: Red flags for CBSE ‘ignored’ before OSM rollout
Pointing out that CBSE admitted technical glitches in the portal used to get scanned copies and extended re-evaluation deadlines several times, the petition argued that Class 12 board results are key for students applying for college admission. She emphasized that these also play a role in future scholarships and educational opportunities, thus bearing serious consequences on the academic endeavors of students.
It highlighted that at least 1.27 lakh requests have been made in respect of nearly 3.87 lakh answer books by students looking for scanned copies of assessed answer sheets, ANI reported. Filed through advocates Rishav Ranjan, Ajay Chikara, Omar Huda, Isha Bakshi and Shubham Mishra, the petition has sought HC directions to keep the verification and re-evaluation portal open for another month for the affected students.
The PIL claimed that students whose answer sheets were scanned and graded correctly were treated differently compared to those whose booklets contained technical errors. She urged CBSE to devise and implement proper guidelines for future digital assessment systems, noting that students should not suffer due to errors in the system introduced by the authorities.
