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‘Answer scripts blurred… can’t check more than 20 a day’: Teachers grapple with CBSE’s digital marking

The CBSE introduced a new On-Screen Marking system, replacing the practice of physically checking answer books.

5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 8, 2026 01:52 PM IST

‘Answer scripts blurred... can’t check more than 20 a day’: Teachers grapple with CBSE’s digital marking

Under the new system, answer sheets are scanned and uploaded to a secure online platform where teachers log in remotely to evaluate scripts. (File Photo)

As lakhs of students await their CBSE Class XII board results this month, teachers in Delhi and other states are grappling with the Board’s new digital evaluation system. Complaints have emerged of blurred answer scripts, technical glitches and repeated rechecking, with teachers expressing concern that it could delay the results.

This year, the Central Board of Secondary Education introduced a new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system across CBSE-affiliated schools in India and abroad, replacing the decades-old practice of physically checking answer books.

Under the new system, answer sheets are scanned and uploaded to a secure online platform where teachers log in remotely to evaluate scripts.

A teacher from a private school in North Delhi, however, said “checking demands a lot of attention” because even a minor mistake makes the correction process “lengthy and time-consuming”.

“Teachers are not able to check more than 20 copies a day,” the teacher said. “Papers are not scanned properly sometimes, and many scripts appear blurred. Connectivity is slow and papers take time to download.”

A teacher from a private school in Uttarakhand, who evaluated Class 12 papers through the OSM system, voiced similar concerns.

“It was challenging in the beginning, with the server going down and scanned answer sheets appearing blurred,” said the teacher.

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“Later, things became smoother. But checking every box for unanswered questions was extremely tedious. The only relief was that we no longer had to tally or sum up the marks manually.”

The Indian Express reached out to CBSE Controller of Examination Sanyam Bhardwaj but received no response.

Constant disruptions

In a circular dated February 9, the Board said the move was aimed at “enhance(ing) efficiency and transparency” and listed among its benefits the “elimination of totalling errors”, “faster evaluation with wider teacher participation”, and “environmentally sustainable digital evaluation”. Class 10 evaluation would continue in physical mode.

In a February 24 circular, the CBSE said it would conduct “Mandatory Mass Mock Evaluation” to familiarise teachers with the platform. The circular also said the Board would “conduct multiple dry runs for practice”, “organise training programmes”, “establish a call centre for issue resolution”, and “release instructional videos for better understanding”.

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Despite these preparations, teachers complained of repeated technical disruptions during the evaluation process.

A director of a private senior secondary school in Uttarakhand said evaluators were initially instructed to mark unanswered questions as “NA”, only to later receive instructions to enter “zero” instead, forcing many already-evaluated copies to be reopened and checked again.

“Several times, teachers submitted evaluated copies and the data got lost,” the director said.

She flagged that the system is contributing to the delay in announcing the result: “The Class XII result should ideally be announced latest by the second week of May but with how things are going, it might take more than a week to finish evaluation of all answer sheets.”

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‘Students left unattended’

Teachers also described the physical strain of spending long hours before screens.

A senior secondary English teacher in a school in Delhi’s Dwarka said, “Teachers are complaining of excessive headaches and eye strain because they are sitting in front of screens from 9 am to 6 pm every day. Children in schools are sitting untaught because the same teachers have been repeatedly recalled for evaluation duty.”

In a May 6 letter marked “MOST URGENT”, the CBSE Dehradun regional office instructed schools to ensure “Head Examiners and Evaluators from their schools are relieved as and when required for evaluation work”, warning that failure to do so “may adversely affect the upcoming Board Examination results of their institutions.”

An official from a private school in Uttarakhand, speaking on condition of anonymity, said teachers were repeatedly being recalled after initially completing their assigned duties. “Normally a board is constituted, teachers are sent and then relieved. If there is a need again, the board should ideally be reconstituted,” the official said. “Instead, the same teachers were called back again and again.”

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The official said some teachers initially received 80 copies for evaluation, only to later be assigned 200 more. “There were many instances where evaluated copies were not showing as corrected because the changes had not been saved,” the official said. “Teachers had to go through the entire set again.”

The official added that during the first few days, some evaluators “could hardly check four or five sheets a day”.

“The school suffers because these are Class XI and XII teachers who have now been absent for nearly three weeks.”

Vidheesha Kuntamalla

Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions. Professional Profile Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region. Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice. Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility. She has also reported widely on: * Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs * Policy responses to campus mental health * Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University * Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US. Reporting Style Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025) 1. Express Investigation Series JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025) An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors. JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025) The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus. 2. International Education & Immigration ‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025) H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025) Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025) What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025) Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025) ‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025) 3. Academic Freedom & Policy Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025) Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025) SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses. 4. Mental Health on Campuses In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025) Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025) 5. Delhi Schools These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025) ‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read More

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