NSUI moves Delhi HC against CBSE’s on-screen marking system for Class 12 exams

The National Studentsrsquo 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 Educations CBSE newly introduced OnScreen 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 screenThe 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 resultsAccording to the petition Class 12 board examination marks have a direct bearing on admissions to universities and professional institutions scholarship opportunities and future academic prospectsldquoClass 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 studentsrdquo the petition statedThe 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 frameworkThe petition referred to CBSEs own public communications acknowledging technical glitches in the portal used for providing scanned copies of answer books to students It highlighted that around 127146 applications relating to nearly 387399 scanned answer books were submitted within a short period after the portal was restoredThe 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 postresult formality the plea saidThe 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 failuresStudents 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 treatmentThe 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 sheetsThe result is loss of opportunities loss of confidence and loss of educational advantage the plea contendedSeeking 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 systemsThe petition also highlighted that CBSE declared the Class 12 results on May 13 with the overall pass percentage dropping to 8520 per cent down from 8839 per cent last year It further referred to reports indicating a decline in the number of students scoring 90 per cent and aboveThe developments come as CBSE on Tuesday opened the online facility for Class 12 students seeking verification of marks and reevaluation of their resultsThe 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 processThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever