The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will consult stakeholders on its On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. This review will determine if the system continues next academic year. It will also assess extending OSM to Class 10 exams.
Stakeholder Consultations Underway
CBSE plans broad consultations. Students, teachers, and parents will provide feedback. The board will use this input to finalize the digital evaluation process. OSM replaced physical answer script evaluation for Class 12 this year. It aims for greater efficiency in marking.
Review Focus Areas
Experts will review the OSM system. Feedback from users will be a key consideration. The final decision rests with students, parents, and teachers. CBSE introduced OSM to improve accuracy, transparency, and monitoring.
Addressing User Concerns
Initial rollout faced student complaints. Issues included blurred scans, missing pages, and unevaluated answers. The review will address these experiences. It will assess scanned scripts and correction processes. Teacher feedback on training and implementation hurdles is also sought.
The review will evaluate OSM's current form. It will consider modification or gradual expansion. Scanning quality is a primary focus. This includes the completeness of digital copies for examiners. Technical experts will review scanning protocols and quality checks.
Cybersecurity and Expansion
Data storage capacity and necessary safeguards are under review. This is crucial before expanding to Class 10. Including Class 10 would significantly increase digital answer sheet volume. Cybersecurity is a critical component of the review process. CBSE's post-result portal experienced cyberattacks. These included traffic surges and file access attempts. The board stated its services remained functional. The evaluation portal was not compromised.
CBSE is strengthening its digital infrastructure. It works with IITs Kanpur and Madras, Digital India Corporation, CERT-In, and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre. Over 1.6 lakh Class 12 candidates requested verification or re-evaluation this year. This involved more than 3.8 lakh answer books. Physics saw the highest number of requests.
