Education boards of Sindh outside Karachi fare badly in NED entrance test

Handful of students from Sukkur, Larkana, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas boards declared pass

KARACHI: The recent results of the entrance test for the NED University of Engineering and Technology show that the education emergency imposed in Sindh for the past four years has failed to produce positive results.

Students who passed intermediate examinations from other-than-Karachi boards failed to perform in the NED entrance test as only 21% of them could clear the test. Many students who failed the test had secured good results in their intermediate first year results and were awaiting their second year marks.

In contrast, 57% of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) students, who appeared for the test that was conducted on August 18, cleared it. Students of the Cambridge system, Aga Khan Board and Federal Board also sailed through the test with an overall pass percentage of  45.5%.



A total of 11,240 students appeared in the NED University entrance test. As many as 6,356 students represented the BIEK, of whom 3,616 candidates were declared successful, making a pass percentage of 57%. Many of these students have completed their matriculation from private educational institutes.

On the other side, most of the students who represented other boards of Sindh in the entrance test had studied from government schools. There is a general impression that government schools in the province have poor standards compared to private ones.

The NED University test results defy many claims of the provincial government regarding the achievements of the education emergency in place for four years.



The results show that students of Mirpurkhas and Larkana boards performed the poorest as the passing percentage of students representing the two boards was only 15% and 13% respectively. Only 129 of 993 candidates representing the Larkana board cleared the test.

Of 87 students of the Sukkur board, only 16 were able to secure 50 or more marks to pass the entrance test, whereas, the result for candidates who had qualified from the Hyderabad board was also not satisfactory. Only 267 of 1,273 students were declared successful, making the pass percentage 21% for the board.

The pass percentage for candidates representing the Cambridge system, Aga Khan Board and Federal Board was 80%, 78% and 67% respectively. Of a total of 527 candidates from the Cambridge system, 431 passed. Similarly, 80 students from the Aga Khan Board passed out of 103 who appeared in the test. As many as 196 students represented the Federal Board in the entrance test, of whom 131 cleared it.