India, June 4 -- CBSE's fascination with OSM, without adequate preparedness, has left millions of students in tears

India's education establishment has a peculiar relationship with reform: it announces it loudly, implements it hastily, and then retreats into silence when things go wrong. The CBSE OSM controversy of 2026 is only the latest - and perhaps the most damaging - example of this pattern.

When CBSE introduced On-Screen Marking for Class 12 board examinations this year, it presented it as a leap into transparency and modernity. Answer scripts would be scanned, uploaded to a secure portal, and evaluated digitally by teachers from their own schools - no more physical transport, no totalling errors, no delays. The pitch was impeccab...