Dharmendra Pradhan admits discrepancies in CBSE OSM evaluation process, IITs to review system

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has acknowledged that certain discrepancies have been found in the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, which is being used for large-scale digital evaluation of board examination answer sheets.

The minister said the issues emerged during the first major implementation of the system, which involves scanning and evaluating nearly 40 crore pages of answer sheets. He assured that all errors would be corrected and that no student would be adversely affected.

Following the concerns, the ministry held a high-level review meeting with CBSE officials. Experts from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras have been roped in to examine the software, coding structure, and technical framework of the digital evaluation system.

Pradhan said that the OSM system is transparent but, as it is being implemented on such a large scale for the first time, certain issues have surfaced. He added that corrective measures are already underway.

He also stated that out of over 17 lakh students who appeared for the CBSE Class 12 examinations this year, nearly four lakh students had requested scanned copies of their evaluated answer sheets, highlighting the scale of digital scrutiny.

The minister further said that strict action will be taken if any irregularities are found in the scanning process or in the functioning of the private company involved in digitising answer sheets. He, however, urged against politicising the issue.

Questions over the system were raised after several students reported discrepancies in their scanned answer sheets, including mismatched or altered responses. In some cases, CBSE has already issued corrected copies after complaints were verified.

The ministry has now tasked expert teams to strengthen the system and ensure accuracy in future evaluations, aiming to restore confidence in the digital examination process.