A fresh controversy has started around the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system after some students claimed that schools were pressuring them to publicly support the digital evaluation process on social media.
The issue came to light after a Reddit post went viral. A student alleged that teachers were asking students to upload Instagram stories and posts saying they had “no problem with OSM checking” despite ongoing complaints about the system.
The student also claimed that even after passing the exams, they felt “traumatised” by the situation.
Around the same time, two videos shared by a PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya school in Jaipur showed a student and a teacher praising the OSM system.
In one video, a student who scored 96% said the marking process felt “fair and transparent” and that digital evaluation reduced mistakes and made checking more systematic.
The student also said the system helped ensure answers were checked clearly and fairly.
In another video, a Hindi teacher said she worked during the answer-sheet evaluation process and found the digital system helpful. According to her, checking answer sheets became faster and more efficient compared to the earlier manual process.
She also described the system as eco-friendly and said she did not face issues like blurred or unclear scanned copies.
However, the timing of these videos has raised questions online because many students have recently complained about problems during result verification.
Students alleged issues such as blurred scanned pages, missing answer-sheet pages, and even answer sheets being mixed up between students.
The OSM system is a digital process where answer sheets are scanned and checked online instead of physically evaluating paper copies.
While CBSE has not officially responded to the allegations made in the Reddit post, the controversy has now sparked a larger debate about transparency, accountability, and whether students feel free to question the system openly.
As digital evaluation becomes more common in India’s education system, the debate around the OSM system is likely to continue.
