The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is facing mounting criticism over technical glitches, answer-sheet errors, and payment failures linked to its newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 board exams. Amid growing outrage from students and parents, experts from Indian Institute of Technology Madras have now been sent to Delhi to investigate the problems and conduct a full technical review of the system.
What Is The OSM System?
The OSM (On-Screen Marking) system was introduced by Central Board of Secondary Education this year as part of a major digital evaluation overhaul. Under the system, answer sheets are scanned, uploaded online, and evaluated digitally by teachers across India instead of traditional physical checking.
CBSE reportedly used the system to evaluate over 98 lakh answer books belonging to more than 18 lakh students during the 2026 board examination cycle. The board said the move was aimed at improving transparency, reducing human errors, and speeding up evaluation.
Students Report Blurred Scans, Missing Pages, Wrong Answer Sheets
Problems began surfacing soon after results were declared on May 13. Students who applied for scanned copies of evaluated answer books complained about:
- Blurred and illegible scans
- Missing pages in answer sheets
- Entire answers left unchecked
- Totalling discrepancies
- Receiving another student’s answer sheet
One high-profile case involved a student named Vedant, whose Physics answer sheet uploaded online reportedly belonged to another student. CBSE later admitted the mistake and provided the corrected answer script.
IIT Madras Team Sent For ‘Complete Health Check-Up’
Following the controversy, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan directed IIT experts to assist CBSE in resolving technical failures. IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti confirmed that a technical team has been dispatched to Delhi for a “complete health check-up” of the portal.
The team will reportedly investigate:
- Server stability
- Software deployment issues
- Authentication systems
- Payment gateway failures
- Possible cyberattack vulnerabilities
Kamakoti also said the institute would analyze system logs to determine whether the portal experienced a denial-of-service (DoS) attack or other cybersecurity issues.
Payment Gateway Failures Added To Chaos
Alongside answer-sheet concerns, thousands of students also reported payment failures while applying for re-evaluation and scanned copies. In several cases, money was deducted but applications were not processed successfully.
The Education Ministry has now involved four public sector banks, including SBI and Bank of Baroda, to strengthen CBSE’s digital payment infrastructure and prevent future disruptions.
CBSE Denies Full-Scale Security Breach
Amid viral social media claims about hacking, CBSE clarified that its actual evaluation portal had not been compromised. The board said the alleged breach involved only a testing platform containing sample data, not the live OSM system used for real answer-sheet evaluations.
However, cybersecurity concerns continue to grow after reports suggested vulnerabilities may have exposed risks involving marks alteration and unauthorized access.
60-Word Summary
Central Board of Secondary Education is facing criticism over glitches in its new On-Screen Marking system after students reported blurred scans, missing pages, payment failures, and answer-sheet mix-ups. Indian Institute of Technology Madras has sent experts to investigate the portal’s technical issues, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and payment infrastructure as the Education Ministry seeks accountability and system improvements.
