The Union government’s decision to transfer the chairman and the secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education and order an inquiry into the procurement of the on-screen marking system linked to the digital evaluation process introduced for the 2026 Class XII examinations follows weeks of mounting complaints from students over blurred answer scripts, mismatched answer books, unevaluated responses, portal failures and cybersecurity concerns. The Centre’s swift intervention seeks to contain the political fallout from the rising anger: the demand for the resignation of the Union education minister has gathered strength. But uncomfortable questions remain. For instance, how was a ‘reform’ adversely affecting millions of students rolled out despite warnings from the CBSE’s internal panel, which reported glitches during trial, expressed misgivings regarding the selection of private vendors, and advised at least a year’s trial before implementation? There are also allegations that the requirement for robotic scanners for answer sheets was removed from the tender process at the last minute. How did a system with such significant vulnerabilities clear multiple institutional checkpoints?
The CBSE episode is part of a broader pattern. The disruption of the Common University Entrance Test owing to technical failures and the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate because of paper leaks have already exposed the gaps in India’s examination ecosystem. Together, these episodes reveal a recurring problem: the growing but unthinking dependence on technology and private service providers without commensurate safeguards, oversight or preparedness. Digitisation is often presented as an undeniable public good but the scale and the diversity of India’s education system demand caution. Public examinations determine admission prospects, scholarship opportunities, career trajectories; for many families, higher education demands years of investment and sacrifice. Systemic accountability requires a thorough examination of procurement practices, vendor selection criteria, cybersecurity standards and regulatory supervision. Private contractors repeatedly surface in examination controversies as the source of discrepancies: they need to be rooted out. Restoring confidence in India’s examination system will not only require strengthening institutional guard rails and technological platforms but also political accountability.