A major controversy over the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 exams has brought attention to problems in answer sheet checking. Surprisingly, the issue was not first raised by political leaders or large protests. Instead, three teenagers helped bring the matter into the national spotlight through social media posts, online investigations and technology-related claims.
The students — Vedant Shrivastava, Sarthak Sidhant and Nisarga Adhikary — questioned different parts of the OSM system. One student said he received another person’s answer sheet, another investigated the tender process behind the marking system, and a third claimed he found security weaknesses in the portal.
Their actions started a nationwide debate about fairness, transparency and technology in India’s school examination system. At the same time, CBSE defended the system, corrected some technical problems and rejected allegations of corruption or large-scale wrongdoing.
This year, CBSE used the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system on a large scale for Class 12 answer sheet evaluation.
Earlier, physical answer sheets were sent to teachers for checking. Under the new system, answer sheets are scanned and uploaded online so teachers can evaluate them on computer screens.
CBSE said the move would make checking faster, reduce counting mistakes and improve transparency.
However, after Class 12 results were announced in May, many students began sharing complaints online. Some students claimed they saw blurred answer sheets, missing pages or answers that were left unchecked. A few also alleged they had received answer sheets that did not belong to them.
The controversy became bigger because Class 12 pass percentages dropped to their lowest level in several years, making many students question the system even more.
CBSE later said that out of nearly 98.6 lakh answer books, some answer sheets had to be scanned again because of poor image quality, while others were manually checked after scanning problems.
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One of the biggest faces of the controversy became Vedant Shrivastava, a student from Delhi.
After receiving lower-than-expected marks in Physics, Vedant applied to see a copy of his evaluated answer sheet. But when CBSE shared the document, he noticed something shocking — the handwriting did not appear to be his.
Vedant then posted about the issue online, and the post quickly became viral, gaining millions of views and spreading widely across social media platforms.
His case drew attention because it made people wonder whether similar mistakes could have happened with other students.
After reviewing the complaint, CBSE responded publicly and admitted that the wrong answer sheet had been shared with him. The board later emailed the correct answer sheet and promised to update his result.
Before the correction happened, Vedant reportedly faced trolling online, with some people questioning his claims and attacking him personally.
Still, his complaint encouraged many other students to raise concerns about their own answer sheets.
Another teenager who became important in the controversy was 17-year-old Sarthak Sidhant from Jharkhand.
Unlike Vedant, Sarthak focused on how the OSM system contract was awarded.
After feeling unhappy with his exam result, he started studying CBSE tender documents available online. He compared different rounds of documents related to the OSM system and wrote a detailed blog.
In his investigation, Sarthak claimed there were several changes in the eligibility rules during different stages of the tender process.
He argued that some conditions were changed over time, which allegedly helped the selected company qualify for the contract.
One example he pointed out involved rules about companies that had previously faced blacklisting.
His blog gained huge attention online and was later shared by political leaders, including Rahul Gandhi.
However, CBSE rejected claims that the process was manipulated. The board said it followed official procurement rules and selected the lowest qualified bidder through proper procedures.
The company involved, Coempt EduTeck, also denied wrongdoing and said the allegations were false.
The third student linked to the controversy was Nisarga Adhikary, a 19-year-old who described himself as a cybersecurity researcher.
Nisarga claimed he found weaknesses in the OSM web portal that teachers used for answer sheet checking.
According to him, he discovered flaws that could possibly allow access to parts of the system and bypass security checks.
At first, CBSE strongly denied these claims and said the website he referred to was only a testing platform and not the real evaluation system.
The board stressed that the actual marking platform remained secure and had not been hacked.
Later, however, CBSE acknowledged that some identified vulnerabilities had been addressed and said technical experts were working to strengthen system security.
The board thanked ethical hackers and citizens for reporting possible problems.
After this, Nisarga claimed that the board had accepted there were loopholes in the system.
As the controversy grew, political leaders also became involved.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met Vedant Shrivastava and praised young people who raised concerns.
He also appreciated Sarthak’s investigation and described India’s younger generation as fearless and intelligent.
Other opposition leaders questioned the government and demanded investigations into the OSM system.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said he was taking responsibility for problems and assured students that no complaint would be ignored.
He promised corrections wherever needed and said students’ concerns would be addressed.
Throughout the controversy, CBSE continued to defend OSM overall.
The board maintained that the system improves transparency and fairness while reducing traditional checking mistakes.
CBSE also said many claims online were exaggerated and insisted that problems were limited rather than widespread.
At the same time, the board admitted that some technical corrections were necessary and promised stronger safeguards.
The re-evaluation process has now been opened for students who want their answer sheets reviewed again.
For many students and parents, the controversy has raised important questions about technology in education, accountability and how exam systems should balance speed with accuracy.
What started with three teenagers online has now become a national discussion about trust in India’s school examination process.
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