Did CBSE ask schools to post ‘positive messages’ defending OSM on social media? Here's all you need to know

As the Class 12 evaluation controversy continues, reports claim schools were sent talking points to reassure students and defend the board's digital marking system.

The Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system remains under scrutiny over allegations of evaluation discrepancies, technical glitches, and answer-sheet irregularities. 

Now, a fresh controversy has emerged, with affiliated schools reportedly being encouraged to post "positive messages" and videos supporting the system on their social media platforms.

The allegations come at a time when students across the country have been raising concerns about blurred scans, missing pages, answer-sheet mismatches, unchecked answers, and technical glitches in CBSE's post-result support portal.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, regional offices of the board circulated a document containing talking points and prepared scripts for school principals, encouraging them to publicly defend the evaluation system on social media.

The document, titled ‘Material for Principals,’ reportedly contained suggested language, prepared statements, and key messages that principals could use while addressing students and parents about the OSM system. 

Schools, students share videos

Fact-checker and journalist Mohammed Zubair also drew attention to the issue on social media.

"After mismanaging the entire system, CBSE has now switched to damage control mode. CBSE is sending scripts to school principals to defend the On Screen Marking system," he wrote while sharing a thread of videos featuring principals, teachers, and students speaking in support of OSM.

Several of the videos highlighted by Zubair reportedly contained near-identical phrases praising the benefits of digital evaluation while acknowledging limited implementation issues.

In one such video, Leena Nair, principal of New Era Senior Secondary School, Vadodara, described OSM as a major reform that had "improved the structural integrity of assessments" and "eliminated human clerical errors."

"As with the rollout of any technology on such an unprecedented scale, I know that a few implementation bumps have caused concern," she said, while urging students not to panic and to make use of the re-evaluation process if required.

Another principal, Sarika Singh, described the system as an effort to make evaluation "more transparent, accurate and technology-driven" and called the digitisation of nearly 98 lakh answer sheets a "landmark digital shift." She too acknowledged concerns regarding blurred scans and portal glitches while urging students and parents to trust the board's grievance-redressal mechanism.

According to the report, not only educators but students were also featured in several videos defending the system and urging confidence in the evaluation process.

OSM controversy continues

The allegations emerge amid growing scrutiny of CBSE's first full-scale implementation of OSM for Class 12 board examinations.

Following the declaration of results, many students reported unexpectedly low marks compared to their school performance and alleged evaluation discrepancies.

The controversy intensified after CBSE opened its post-result portal allowing students to access scanned copies of their answer sheets. While several students initially reported payment failures and portal glitches, those who eventually gained access raised concerns about blurred or incomplete scans, missing pages, unchecked answers, and even answer-sheet mismatches.

The issue has since prompted intervention from Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who recently acknowledged that certain discrepancies had come to light and assured students that all concerns would be addressed. The Centre has also tasked experts from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur with examining the technical implementation of the system and suggesting improvements.

Meanwhile, CBSE has continued to defend OSM as a “transparent and student-friendly evaluation mechanism” while maintaining that technical issues reported during the rollout are being addressed.

The board is also expected to open the verification and re-evaluation process on May 29 for students seeking review of their answer sheets and marks.