'On screen' marking for quick class 10 results

The CBSE class 10 results have been declared earlier than expected this year. The Central Board of Secondary Education attributes this to the introduction of the online marking system.

The CBSE is the only national education board in the country to have introduced the ‘On Screen Marking’, said a senior official.

Examiners are given a ‘User ID’ through which they can log on to the On Screen Marking software.

The answer sheets are already uploaded on the software. Each answer script has a serial number which enables easy retrieval.

Under the system, an examiner evaluates 20 to 25 answer sheets a day, an official said.

The software calculates the total number of marks. “An answer sheet cannot be forwarded to the head examiner if any question has been left unchecked,” the official said.

CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi said the prime goal of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) is to make the learning environment more fun instead of the traditional rote-learning in the classroom.

Tech savvy

“The On Screen Marking is the first step that the CBSE has taken towards making education more tech savvy,” he added.

“The idea behind this initiative is to eradicate the time-consuming method of checking papers and strengthening the evaluation process by making it foolproof.”

Earlier, examiners used to be under pressure to check the answer sheets in the limited time given to them, an official said.

“This had an adverse effect on the quality of checking.” In case of any error in the marking, students applied for re-evaluation. This increased the workload and prolonged the evaluation process. 

The on screen marking system has been prevalent in countries such as the US, Hong Kong and South Korea, the CBSE said.

The CBSE usually declares class 12 board results before announcing class 10 results.

 This year, the CBSE declared class 10 results on May 20, and it announced class 12 results of Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram regions on May 26.