CIC Directs CBSE To Frame SOP Governing Timelines For Providing Marks, Answer Sheets | Education and Career News
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A copy of the order has been sent to the CBSE Secretary for appropriate action, while the First Appellate Authority has been asked to submit a compliance report within four weeks.
The student claimed that mistakes in the assessment process caused her severe mental distress | Image for representation
Calling it a “dire need of the present scenario,” the Central Information Commission (CIC) has recommended that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) establish a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) specifying timelines for providing marks or answer sheets to students who seek them, reported PTI.
The recommendation was made while hearing an appeal filed by a Class 12 student who had requested access to her assessment records used for preparing the 2021 board examination results after the exams were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The student claimed that mistakes in the assessment process caused her severe mental distress, including “mental agony and depression,” and stated that she had to undergo therapy as a result.
Information Commissioner Sudha Rani Relangi observed that introducing such an SOP was essential, stating that “it is the dire need of today’s scenario that CBSE should introduce a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) governing the timelines for submission/providing the marks or answer sheet on the request of students.”
The CIC further noted that such a mechanism would help prevent situations involving unnecessary hardship for students and could protect young minds from adverse impacts. Exercising its powers under Section 25(5) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the commission “strongly recommended” that CBSE frame the SOP and make the related policy information available on its official website.
A copy of the order has been sent to the CBSE Secretary for appropriate action, while the First Appellate Authority has been asked to submit a compliance report within four weeks.
Addressing the student’s grievance, the commission observed that denying access to her own assessment marks, regardless of the format, by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) was against the spirit of the RTI Act, 2005.
The CIC pointed out that although the student’s challenge to her assessment process is pending before the High Court, the CPIO should have responded to her request by providing details related to her own evaluation after removing information concerning other candidates, which is exempt from disclosure under the RTI Act.
The commission directed the CBSE CPIO to provide the student, free of charge, with a revised response containing the permissible information, including her own assessment marks in the tabular format requested in the RTI application.
The student had sought the tabulation sheet for five subjects under CBSE’s special assessment policy introduced after the cancellation of the 2021 Class 12 board examinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the proceedings, she argued that she had the right to know the basis of her assessment and that no RTI exemption prevented the disclosure of her own academic records.
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