The redundancy needs to be terminated
GUJRAT: Every year, thousands of students appear for the intermediate examination, belonging to various disciplines such as pre-engineering, pre-medical, and others. After taking their intermediate board examinations, students are bound in other undue mental fatigue, which is preparing for entrance tests. The trend and set-up in Pakistan for preparation for the entrance test is sending one’s children to so-called entrance test preparatory academies, which advertise themselves using catchy phrases. Many parents do not eat or dress properly but spend their savings on their children’s education in hopes of seeing them successful in life. Sometimes, I feel that the preparatory actually exploit the feelings of parents and students.
I have nothing to do with any entrance test preparatory academies but I want an answer from all the stakeholders about whether the government really thinks its standard of board examination has so declined that they have to retest their students, which also means they are challenging their own degree programmes. Also, what about those students who scored more than 90 per cent marks in board examinations and intend to get admission into medical and engineering colleges but are not as fortunate to get good marks in the entrance test? This will ruin their future, so how much pain can they be made to suffer? This practice needs to be stopped. The government should take a decision and hold only board exams or entrance tests. The redundancy needs to be terminated.
Usman Riaz
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2017.
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