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Digital evaluation system under fire after student complaints
A single student's viral post about discrepancies between his physical and digital physics answer sheets has triggered a nationwide outcry over India's Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam process. The controversy centers on the board's new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, introduced to improve accuracy and transparency.
How the OSM system works-and where it failed
CBSE's OSM system scans handwritten answer sheets and uploads them to an online portal for teacher evaluation. A software then calculates final marks. The board claims the system reduces human error and speeds up results. However, students report blurred scans, missing pages, incorrect markings, and mismatched digital copies. Some allege their answer sheets were entirely swapped.
Vedant Srivastava, a Grade 12 student, sparked the debate after posting on X that his re-evaluated physics paper did not match his original. "I sacrificed everything for these exams. Now I don't even know if my actual paper was checked," he wrote. His post went viral, prompting hundreds of similar complaints.
CBSE's response and student demands
CBSE acknowledged "genuine concerns" and pledged to review complaints through subject experts. On Monday, the board emailed Srivastava a "correct copy" of his answer sheet but did not explain the initial mismatch. Screenshots he shared showed manual red-ink markings, unlike the digital system's green ticks.
By Tuesday, over 400,000 students had requested scanned copies of their answer sheets, while 1.1 million sought physical copies. Technical glitches during requests led Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to dispatch experts from top Indian tech colleges to assist CBSE.
Security concerns and ethical hacking claims
Nisarga Adhikary, an ethical hacker, alleged he accessed CBSE's evaluation portal in February, exposing student records, answer sheets, and evaluator accounts. "One could tamper with marks or steal personal data," he told the BBC. He reported vulnerabilities to India's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) but claims no action was taken.
CBSE denied the breach, calling the compromised URL a "testing site" with no real data. Adhikary countered that he verified evaluator details and answer sheets on the portal. The BBC has sought responses from CBSE and CERT-IN.
Broader fallout and political outrage
The scandal follows the cancellation of NEET-UG, India's medical entrance exam, after paper leak allegations. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of neglecting students, demanding the education minister's resignation. "The system is rigged. Students must beg for justice on social media," Gandhi said.
With two million students taking CBSE's Grade 12 exams this year, the stakes are high. The board's credibility is now under scrutiny as families question whether digital evaluation can replace manual checks without safeguards.
"Do students really deserve this after a year of hard work?"
Vedant Srivastava, CBSE student
