British Council should consider revising its policy and take some confidence-building measures.
LAHORE: This refers to the recent notice issued on the website of the British Council regarding the retake of ‘O’ level and IGCSE Pakistan Studies and Islamiyat exams due to the compromise of the integrity of their system. For all those people blaming the British Council for being Western stereotypes by putting all the blame on Pakistanis, I would like to tell them that the British Council has explicitly said that it is not alleging or holding any Pakistani organisation responsible for whatever has occurred. It is taking full responsibility of the issue and is willing to redeem itself by conducting the examinations once again in order to ensure validity of and fairness in grades. For all it cares, it could have messed up the grading system and buried the entire matter to save itself.
But if the British Council is showing willingness in accepting the flaws in its system, we should appreciate and support it instead of abusing it on social media.
As for the British Council, it should consider revising its policy and take some confidence-building measures to avoid repeat incidents in future. Hopefully, after we are through with the retakes, it will give us a genuine explanation because it owes us one. Moreover, the notice was issued only 10 days prior to the retakes, which is not enough time to prepare for such lengthy subjects like Islamiyat and Pakistan Studies. Also, it would be highly appreciated if the British Council would post some useful exam revision tips on its website, instead of posting those fancy English Language courses. It is sad to see that the standards of such a prestigious institution are now faltering.
Maneeha Aftab
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2013.
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