Students are paying the price for mistakes committed by CBSE: Congress
Congress leader Pawan Khera addresses a press conference at the AICC office in New Delhi on June 1, 2026. | Photo credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
The Congress on Monday (June 1, 2026) stepped up its attack on the Narendra Modi government over the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) On Screen Marking (OSM) controversy, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, saying he “epitomizes arrogance and incompetence”.
The opposition party’s criticism came after the CBSE admitted there was a problem with the system that released student data.
Congress argued that such a systemic failure threatened the future and mental well-being of millions of students.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has accused the government of “funding” education and criticized the cost imposed on students seeking redressal of alleged grading errors.
Sharing a video of his interaction with the students, Mr. Gandhi said that the burden of correcting the mistakes made by the system was unfairly placed on them.
“Watch out for pickpockets – they are sitting right inside CBSE today,” he said in a post on X. “Fault belongs to CBSE. Punishment falls on student. Profit goes to Govt.”
Pointing out the fees charged during revaluation — ₹100 per subject for scanned copies, ₹100 for re-counting and ₹25 per question for revaluation — Mr. Gandhi claimed that students could spend up to ₹2,000 just to ensure an accurate assessment.
“When education turns from a service to a business, mistakes are not corrected. They multiply. And our children pay the ultimate price – with their time, self-esteem and future,” Gandhi said.
Contractual standards
In a separate post, X Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that after weeks of “denying cyber security vulnerabilities” in the OSM system, the CBSE finally admitted that the system had been compromised.
Mr. Ramesh alleged that tendering norms were changed to favor COEMPT contractors and asked why the board removed the provision to blacklist non-performing contractors.
“This is an inexplicable government-backed attempt to save COEMPT and it started even before COEMPT was officially awarded the contract,” Mr Ramesh told X.
Taking a dig at the education minister, the Congress communications director said, “Mantri Pradhan is the very epitome of arrogance and incompetence” and urged him to “follow his rajdharma and resign”.
At a press conference, Congress media and publicity chief Pawan Khera accused the BJP government of weakening India’s educational institutions through “12 years of blatant misrule and relentless propaganda”.
“While PM Modi continued his personal PR spree with ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ and ‘Exam Warriors’, millions of young students and their parents are suffering daily,” he said.
Errors in the system
Mr Khera asked the Prime Minister a series of questions, asking why the CBSE “ignored” warnings from teachers and experts about 36 major flaws in the digital assessment system and why the OSM system was imposed on 18.5 million students within weeks.
Mr. Khera questioned the government’s stance on the future of students. “Is it because you need an army of uneducated and unemployed young people who will remain illiterate and jobless and you can make them do what you want?” he asked, adding, “What is your enmity with GenZ?”
Published – 01 Jun 2026 22:31 IST