NEET Paper Leaks & CBSE Marking Fiasco: Who is Accountable?

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Are India’s top educational bodies playing with the future of millions of students? From the relentless cycle of NEET paper leaks to a massive grading disaster in CBSE Class 12 board exams, India's examination system is facing a severe institutional crisis. In this edition of Jaanne Bhi Do Yaaro on The Wire, transparency activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri are joined by prominent educationist and former Dean of Education at Delhi University, Anita Rampal to highlight the shocking lack of accountability and transparency within the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). 🚨 Inside the CBSE Class 12 Marking Scam (2026) This year, the CBSE rushed to implement the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for checking Class 12 answer sheets, completely ignoring major technical red flags raised during pilot projects in Delhi schools. Despite its own governing body recommending regional pilots, CBSE hurriedly awarded a contract just 75 days before the exams by allegedly relaxing crucial scanning quality criteria in its third tender. The contract went to Coempt—a company with a notorious track record. Operating previously as Globarena Technologies, the firm was embroiled in a massive software failure in Telangana in 2019 that led to the wrongful failing of thousands of students and resulted in the tragic suicides of 23 students. When lakhs of class 12 students received unexpectedly low scores and demanded their scanned answer sheets, a horrifying reality came to light. Answer sheets had been mixed up, pages were missing, answers were left unmarked, and the scanning quality was so poor that text was illegible. Parents bodies also raised questions that Class 10 teachers were assigned to evaluate Class 12 board papers! 🚨 The NTA & NEET Crisis The crisis surrounding the NEET medical entrance exam is no longer an isolated incident—it has become a recurring national emergency. Since 2016, millions of aspiring doctors have seen their hard work compromised by a continuous cycle of paper leaks, systemic malpractices, and institutional apathy. In a damning assessment, the Supreme Court of India sharply criticized the National Testing Agency (NTA), stating that the body responsible for conducting the nation's most competitive exams is functioning in a completely "ad-hoc" manner and had failed to learn any lessons from previous instances of paper leaks. The apex court warned that this systemic rot cannot be cured by superficial fixes. Until specific duty holders within the NTA are identified and held accountable, the mismanagement will continue. Why has an agency handling the futures of nearly 1 crore students every year been allowed to operate with such opacity? Why are India’s premier educational institutions treating students like guinea pigs? Who is protecting blacklisted vendors, and why is there zero institutional accountability from government officials and ministers? Watch the full discussion to understand how the collapse of transparency and accountability is destroying India's education system. Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWtJey46brNr7qHQpN6KLQ/join

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