Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday, 29 May 2025, chaired a high-level review meeting at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) headquarters in New Delhi, examining the evaluation and post-result processes for Class 12 examinations. The meeting comes amid mounting student complaints over portal access failures and a broader political controversy over alleged irregularities in CBSE's digital evaluation system.

Key Directives from the Minister

Pradhan directed officials to resolve all student grievances in a timely, transparent, and amicable manner, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Education. He reiterated the government's commitment to a student-centric examination system and warned that no negligence — whether within or outside the system — would be tolerated, with strict action promised against any lapses.

The Minister also reviewed progress on post-result services, with a focus on strengthening student support systems, improving the evaluation and monitoring framework, and making examination-related services more accessible through an enhanced CBSE digital platform.

Scale of This Year's Examinations

Officials briefed Pradhan on the sheer scale of the exercise: nearly 18 lakh students appeared for the Class 12 examinations this year, generating approximately 98 lakh answer sheets and close to 40 crore scanned pages. So far, around 4 lakh students have accessed approximately 11 lakh scanned answer sheets through the post-result portal.

Technical Team Deployed to Fix Portal Issues

Pradhan took specific note of reported problems including login access failures, heavy server load, and payment-related difficulties on the post-examination services portal. In response, an expert technical team — comprising professors from IIT Madras and specialists in digital systems — has been tasked with reviewing portal stability, server capacity, login management, and payment gateway integration to ensure uninterrupted services for students.

Who Attended the Meeting

The review was attended by Sanjay Kumar, Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy; CBSE Chairperson Rahul Singh; Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras; the Director of IIT Kanpur; senior officials from the Ministry of Education and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS); and representatives from public sector banks including SBI, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Canara Bank.

Backdrop: Political Row Over CBSE Evaluation Integrity

The review meeting arrives against the backdrop of a political dispute over alleged irregularities in the digital evaluation system used by CBSE for NEET and other examinations. Critics have pointed to reported discrepancies in marks and a lack of evaluation transparency, raising questions about the integrity of the current process. The government has not formally acknowledged specific irregularities, but Thursday's high-level intervention signals that pressure — both political and public — is being taken seriously.

With an IIT-led technical audit now underway and the Minister personally monitoring outcomes, the next few weeks will determine whether CBSE can restore student confidence ahead of the upcoming admissions cycle.