New Delhi, May 18 -- Defending its newly introduced on-screen marking (OSM) system amid criticism over a sharp fall in Class 12 results, officials in the Central Board of Secondary Education and Union ministry of education on Sunday said the technology-driven evaluation process ensured transparent and objective assessment, even as experts and teachers pointed to broader structural shifts in assessment patterns, post-pandemic normalisation of scores, and changing student priorities amid the rise of entrance examinations such as the Common University Entrance Test as factors behind the board's lowest pass percentage in seven years.

The board's overall Class 12 pass percentage fell 3.19 percentage points to 85.20%, down from 88.39% last yea...