The dispute over the Central Board of Secondary Education’s Online Screening and Marking system for Class 12 answer sheets has again drawn attention to Telangana. Academics have noted similarities to the state’s 2019 Intermediate examination results problem.
The focus of current discussions is Coempt Edu Tech, the company responsible for the online evaluation platform used by CBSE. Its leader previously served as chief executive of Globarena Technologies, the firm that managed the digitised Intermediate examination process in Telangana, which faced questions after the 2019 results controversy.
Critics point to the same concerns in both cases: insufficient testing of the technology prior to its rollout. As a result, many students have lost confidence in the process.
Coempt Edu Tech is the rebranded version of Globarena Technologies.
The CBSE system has drawn complaints from students, parents and teachers nationwide. Issues reported on social media include portal failures, unclear answer sheet images and other technical problems during marking. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi highlighted on social media that Coempt Edu Tech was formerly Globarena Technologies, which was connected to the Telangana Intermediate marks problem. He questioned why no prior review of the firm occurred despite its earlier issues.
Although the company head stated that thorough trial runs were conducted, available reports indicated otherwise. Accounts that CBSE teams had cautioned against hasty adoption without proper checks were also noted by Mr. Gandhi, who called for accountability from Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The matter has recalled Telangana’s 2019 Intermediate results crisis, when flaws in result processing sparked protests throughout the state. Over nine lakh students sat the exams, and initial marks showing large numbers failing or absent caused public anger. Several students died by suicide at the time.
The Telangana government then formed a three-member expert panel that included G.T. Venkateswar Rao, former managing director of Telangana State Technology Services, along with A. Vassan and Nishanth Dongari from IIT Hyderabad.
An anonymous panel member noted that the software had not undergone sufficient testing for such a large and sensitive operation, which contributed to the difficulties.
The panel’s findings stated that errors stemmed from both human errors and shortcomings in the software design and implementation. It found that the technical agency had not finished required application modules on schedule and expressed dissatisfaction with Globarena Technologies’ overall performance.
The government accepted several recommendations, including changes to result-processing methods and possible action against those responsible. Then Education Commissioner Janardhan Reddy shared these details with the media.
The episode also sparked political debate. In 2019, then Telangana Congress Committee working president A. Revanth Reddy, now Chief Minister, claimed the company had ties to influential political figures including former IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao and called for a full probe into the handling of exam data and contracts. The then Telangana Rashtra Samithi government dismissed the claims.
Mr. Reddy further alleged that Globarena and another firm, Magnetic, had defrauded JNTU Kakinada, leading to a case being filed. He released documents showing an inquiry into the JNTU Kakinada and Globarena partnership for exam automation worth 268 crore rupees.
Seven years later, clarity remains lacking on any action taken against those responsible, although Globarena was removed from the system. The Hindu attempted to contact Mr. Raju for comment but received no response.
