Following the Class 12 CBSE exam, students opting for re-evaluation have continued to face hardships from high fees, technical glitches, and delay in receiving scanned copies of answer sheets.

Describing the process as traumatic, R. Belinda, mother of a Class 12 student said, “This entire exercise has deeply impacted the psyche of the students and their immediate family members.”

Since the re-evaluation portal opened on May 19, scores of students from across the country have been applying to get their scanned answer sheets and then apply for re-evaluation. However, a high fee (₹700 per subject) to obtain the answer sheet had left many students in a lurch. The CBSE soon brought the fee down to ₹100 per paper.

OSM system

This comes against the backdrop of the CBSE introducing the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 public exams this year. Through this, the Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are marked by the software while the answer sheets are scanned and uploaded. Evaluation teachers check the images and award marks by choosing the marking system. Now, as the CBSE website continues to see high traffic from students to apply for re-evaluation, many students point out that there has been a delay in getting an acknowledgement receipt for the payment.

Radha (name changed), a Class 12 student, has been waiting for two days to receive her scanned answer sheets. “The entire re-evaluation process has been difficult. Admissions to many colleges have opened, the continued delay in receiving the sheets and then the application for re-totalling will affect our chances for admission to any arts course in Tamil Nadu,” she said.

Prashant (name changed), parent of a Class 12 student in Chennai, noted that his son had applied for scanned copies of all five subjects but there was a day’s delay in getting a payment receipt. “The entire process has been extremely difficult. Why introduce an evaluation feature if such a large national body could not plan remedies? There has also been no intimation on when the answer sheets will reach us,” he added.

‘Glitches in website’

The parents noted that the download button on the website for the answer sheet and the receipt has not been functional.

Students have taken to social media to air the grievances, with many noting the blurry images of their scanned copies, the half marks awarded to MCQs, and the notification of blank pages on a written answer sheet.

“This also makes us scared that our re-totalling will be a failed attempt,” Radha said.

Welcoming the move to incorporate technology such as the OSM, Shree Niketan schools correspondent P. Vishnucharan, said that it should have been done on a pilot basis and in a more controlled format. “It could have been rolled out for just one subject, this could have avoided frustration from the public,” he said.

He also noted that the CBSE should have extended the deadline for applying for answer sheets to an entire week, instead of a day-to-day extension. “This has only caused stress for students and parents. Extending it by 24 hours is not going to bring down the traffic on the site. . A blanket extension by a week or so would have helped everybody,” Mr. Vishnucharan said.