Coempt will continue scanning answer sheets for re-evaluation, CBSE moves On-Screen Marking data to own server | Mint

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which is under fire for the technical glitches, answer sheet mismatch and allegations of rigged tender over the On-Screen Marking (OSM) for the evaluation of 2026 Class 12 board exam results, has retained Hyderabad-based Coempt Eduteck for scanning answer sheets during the ongoing re-evaluation process. But all data and records related to the OSM system have been moved from Coempt’s servers to CBSE-controlled servers to ensure greater control over security and operations.

Re-evaluation by CBSE

Officials from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras are helping CBSE to review and strengthen the system and also address the disputes raised by students over their marks.

As of June 4, the CBSE has received 70,433 applications through the post-result grievance redressal mechanism, including 7,314 applications for verification of marks and 63,119 applications for re-evaluation.

Coempt will be part of re-evaluation process

An IIT official told ANI that Coempt’s OSM platform continues to be used and the company will scan the copies for re-evaluation.

Most students who sought re-evaluation had complained that their answer sheets were poorly scanned, resulting in blurred or unreadable PDFs. Some also alleged that parts of their answer sheets were missing or were left unchecked.

Despite the allegations that Coempt’s systems failed to deliver what was expected the last time, an IIT official expressed confidence that things would be different during the re-evaluation.

“They scanned 40 crore pages, of which about 30,000 odd have problems. That means about 1 in 10,000 pages were problematic. Now they only need to scan problematic pages. So they should be able to scan without any problem,” the official said.

What is OSM?

According to CBSE, On Screen Marking (OSM) is a digital evaluation system wherein answer books are made available on screen for evaluation purposes. In this system, actual answer books are scanned for evaluation.

IIT teams address OSM’s data safety risks

Following large-scale complaints, allegations had also surfaced about the safety of the data, which the CBSE had initially denied, but the board later admitted that the portal had some vulnerabilities.

To address the issues, IIT Kanpur’s cybersecurity team worked for more than ten days on two key systems, which are the CBSE registration portal and the OSM re-evaluation portal.

The OSM portal also underwent extensive security reviews. The official said a “blue team” responsible for improving and strengthening the code worked alongside a “red team” tasked with identifying vulnerabilities and attempting to break the system.

While the Digital India Corporation (DIC) led the code-strengthening exercise for the OSM platform, IIT Kanpur served as the red team conducting penetration and vulnerability testing.

COEMPT officials remained involved during the transition, assisting teams in understanding parts of the code, facilitating the migration of data and implementing security-related measures, the official said.

CBSE extends re-evaluation deadline

Earlier, on Friday, the CBSE said it has extended the last date for submission of applications for verification and re-evaluation of Class 12 answer sheets by one day till June 7.

The move came after several students flagged issues in accessing answer books and applying for verification and re-evaluation on the CBSE’s post-result services portal launched on June 2.

“In the interest of students, the CBSE has decided to extend the last date for submission of applications for verification and re-evaluation for the Class 12 board examinations, thereby providing students additional time and support to complete the process,” the board said in a post on X.

The previous deadline of June 6 (midnight) has now been extended to June 7 (midnight), it said.

“Students are requested to take note of the revised schedule and submit their applications accordingly,” it added.