CBSE Cuts Revaluation Fee to Rs 100

New Delhi: The Union Education Ministry on Sunday reduced charges for revaluation and answer sheet verification to Rs 100 each for CBSE Class 12 exams, amid concerns over on-screen marking (OSM) affecting student scores.

School education secretary Sanjay Kumar said the decision was taken to ease anxiety among students and parents following complaints about evaluation.

Officials, however, maintained that the OSM system is reliable and follows international standards for transparent assessment.

At a press conference, Kumar said, “98 lakh sheets scanned were for class 12, three levels of security were followed during the process. It was found that despite repeated scanning, there were still some legibility issues because the ink used in some answer sheets was of a very light colour. Even after scanning, those scripts could not be made fully legible.”

He said, “In such cases, the examiners were instructed to evaluate the scripts manually and award marks accordingly. More than 13,000 such answer sheets were separately identified and manually checked. After manual evaluation, the marks obtained were entered into the system. Special attention was given to the security levels and related issues so that the marking carried out through on-screen evaluation remained accurate, completely transparent and fair.”

The remarks came after students and parents linked the drop in Class 12 pass percentage and scores to the introduction of OSM for the first time in CBSE board exams.

Kumar said, “The CBSE has decided this time that if students wish to view their answer sheets, they can do so by paying a fee of Rs 100 instead of Rs 700. If they want verification or validation of the answer sheet, that too will cost Rs 100 instead of Rs 500. If they want any particular answer rechecked, the fee will be Rs 25 per question.”

“We have decided that if during re-evaluation, a student's marks increase, then the amount paid for re-evaluation will be refunded to the student,” he added.