A Class 12 student who raised concerns over alleged errors in the Central Board of Secondary Education evaluation process became the centre of an online controversy after he was wrongly labelled “Pakistani” on social media.

The incident unfolded amid growing criticism of CBSE’s new On-Screen Marking system introduced this year for Class 12 board examinations.

Students raise concerns over evaluation system

Following the declaration of results, several students complained about blurred answer-sheet scans, unchecked responses and mismatched page-wise marks. Many also reported technical issues with the re-evaluation portal, including repeated crashes during payment and submission processes.

CBSE and the Union education ministry defended the digital evaluation system, stating that it improved transparency and objectivity. The board later reduced re-evaluation fees after criticism, cutting scanned copy charges from Rs 700 to Rs 100 per subject.

Social media post sparks controversy

Student Vedant had posted about his concerns on X after allegedly facing difficulties with the re-evaluation process.

Responding to the post, Ashok Shrivastav questioned the account’s location setting, which displayed “South Asia”, and sarcastically suggested the user might be from Pakistan.

Several social media influencers amplified the claim before it was later proven incorrect.

Anchor apologises after clarification

After learning that Vedant was indeed a CBSE student, Shrivastav deleted his earlier post and issued a public apology to the student and his family.

Vedant’s brother Siddhant explained that the X account had been created recently to raise concerns regarding the evaluation process, and that new accounts sometimes temporarily display broader regional labels such as “South Asia”.

Vedant also reportedly shared a video showing he was unable to manually change the displayed location setting.

CBSE later resolves issue

According to Vedant, CBSE officials later contacted him and reportedly sent the corrected answer sheet after reviewing the matter.

In a subsequent social media post, the student thanked people who supported him and said that genuine concerns were unfairly turned into accusations of being “anti-national” or Pakistani.

Ashok Shrivastav later posted a formal apology wishing Vedant success in the future