The Government Schools Teachers’ Association (GSTA) on Friday (May 29, 2026) wrote to Education Minister Ashish Sood to withdraw all show cause notices and memorandums issued to teachers regarding the drop in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 Board marks pass percentage.
The letter said that the CBSE implemented the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system in the year, “without adequate preparation and practical assessment”. “GSTA had earlier suggested that the system should initially be introduced only as a pilot project and, after analysing its results and practical feasibility, be implemented comprehensively from the next academic session. However, the same was not considered,” the letter said.
During the evaluation process, several serious technical and practical issues were reported by evaluators and teachers of different subjects, including blurred scanned answer sheets, uploading of incorrect answer booklets, missing pages of answer sheets, and difficulties in reading scripts due to poor handwriting of students, as per the GSTA.
“In such circumstances, evaluators and concerned officials adopted excessive caution to avoid any error, which consequently resulted in unusually strict marking in many cases,” the letter said.
After the declaration of Class XII results, a large number of complaints were received from students and parents regarding marks being significantly lower than expected. Many students applied for re-evaluation and also faced technical difficulties during the application process, and the CBSE Class XII results this year witnessed an overall decline at the national level compared to previous years, the GSTA said.
“GSTA firmly believes that every teacher performs his/her duties with complete dedication, sincerity, and responsibility towards students. School Heads also continuously monitor academic performance throughout the year, and special measures such as remedial classes, extra classes, and parent-teacher interactions are regularly conducted for weaker students. However, every student possesses different learning abilities and intellectual capacities, and ultimately, the examination result is based upon the individual performance of the student,” the letter said, adding that holding teachers solely responsible for such outcomes is neither fair nor justified.
“GSTA, therefore, humbly requests that the decline in Class XII results this year be viewed in the context of the shortcomings of the OSM system and that no teacher should be held responsible for the same. Further, all Show Cause Notices and Memorandums issued to teachers under directions of higher authorities may kindly be treated as null and void,” the letter said.
On Thursday (May 28, 2026), taking responsibility for the issues that have cropped up with the new OSM evaluation process used by the CBSE, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday (May 28, 2026) said that strict action will be taken against anyone found intentionally responsible for irregularities affecting students.
Published – May 30, 2026 04:44 am IST
