New Delhi: The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has moved the Delhi High Court by filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the implementation of the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for evaluation of Class 12 board examination answer sheets.
The OSM system is a digital evaluation method where physical exam papers are scanned, digitally masked to hide students’ identities, and evaluated by teachers on a computer screen.
The plea, filed through NSUI President Vinod Jhakhar, has raised concerns over the fairness, transparency and reliability of the digital evaluation mechanism, alleging that thousands of students across the country faced issues such as blurred scans, missing pages, mismatched answer sheets, incomplete uploads and unexpectedly low marks following the declaration of Class 12 results.
According to the petition, Class 12 board examination marks have a direct bearing on admissions to universities and professional institutions, scholarship opportunities and future academic prospects.
“Class XII board marks are not only a record of academic performance. They determine admission to universities, professional colleges, scholarship opportunities, entrance eligibility and the overall academic future of students,” the petition stated.
The PIL contended that the concerns were not limited to isolated cases but reflected a larger systemic issue affecting lakhs of students who appeared for the examinations under the newly introduced digital assessment framework.
The petition referred to CBSE’s own public communications acknowledging technical glitches in the portal used for providing scanned copies of answer books to students. It highlighted that around 1,27,146 applications relating to nearly 3,87,399 scanned answer books were submitted within a short period after the portal was restored.
“The said figure itself reflects an extraordinary level of concern and lack of confidence amongst students regarding the process. When such a large number of students seek scanned copies immediately after result declaration, the matter cannot be treated as a routine post-result formality,” the plea said.
The NSUI has argued that students whose answer sheets were properly scanned and evaluated cannot be equated with those whose scripts were allegedly affected by scanning defects, mismatch errors or technical failures.
“Students cannot be made to suffer because of deficiencies in a system introduced by the authorities themselves,” the plea stated, alleging violation of Article 14 of the Constitution on account of arbitrary and unequal treatment.
The petition has also questioned the adequacy of the grievance redressal mechanism available to students. It alleged that candidates were left with limited digital remedies and lacked access to any meaningful process for manual verification or independent rechecking of disputed answer sheets.
“The result is loss of opportunities, loss of confidence and loss of educational advantage,” the plea contended.
Seeking judicial intervention, the PIL has prayed for directions to reopen the verification portal for one month, permit manual rechecking and physical verification of answer sheets in disputed cases, order an independent inquiry into the alleged irregularities, and frame safeguards and guidelines for future digital evaluation systems.
The petition also highlighted that CBSE declared the Class 12 results on May 13, with the overall pass percentage dropping to 85.20 per cent, down from 88.39 per cent last year. It further referred to reports indicating a decline in the number of students scoring 90 per cent and above.
The developments come as CBSE on Tuesday opened the online facility for Class 12 students seeking verification of marks and re-evaluation of their results.
The board has stated that only those candidates who have already obtained photocopies of their evaluated answer books are eligible to apply for the next stage of the review process.
(IANS)
