Students suffer as signing authority missing in Karachi

Despite earning Rs40m annually, the city’s IBCC office depends on Quetta office staff for daily function

KARACHI: The Karachi branch of the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) has an annual turnover of Rs40 million - the highest among all the regional offices in the country - but no one to sign the equivalence certificates for students of O and A Levels.

Staffed by a mere two officials and four clerks, the Karachi office receives 200 equivalence applications daily. In addition to granting equivalence to foreign qualifications, particularly O/A Level qualifications, the IBCC also authenticates certificates issued by various institutions.



Currently, the Karachi office only has one grade-18 and one grade-16 officer while it is mandatory that equivalence certificates should be signed by two grade-18 officers. Therefore, in a cumbersome procedure, the certificates are sent to the Quetta office only for one signature.



Amid this tedious process, students suffer. The highest number of Cambridge schools registered in the country are located in Karachi. Of the thousands of students clearing O/A Level examinations biannually, scores can be regularly seen queuing outside the two-room office at the Sindh Board of Technical Education building. Procedures that ought to take minutes take hours with many struggling to obtain pertinent forms and overburdened staff forced to forward applications to the Quetta office for signatures.

The future of those hoping to enrol in higher education institutions in the country or pursue employment abroad remains in limbo.

Granting equivalence rakes in a hefty sum for the government with Rs3,000 for a regular application and Rs4,000 for an urgent one. However, the Karachi office staff remain taxed and students desperate.

The IBCC's failure to procure a new Karachi premises indicates neglect on the part of authorities. A Bahawalpur sub-office, advertised alongside the need for a Karachi one, started functioning following the acquisition of a building. However, the IBCC was not able to buy or hire a building in Karachi for an office.

The IBCC office was recently shifted from the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi premises in North Nazimabad to the Sindh Board of Technical Education building in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Although the shift in location has facilitated many students as the office is now easily accessible, the office is unable to cater to their requirements.

In limbo

Hadi, a student, told The Express Tribune he had been braving the crowds daily in vain. He was forced to return home for two continuous days after seeing the long lines.

The mother of another student, Azhar Zaidi, said that her child had passed the O and A Level exams from a Sri Lankan school in Qatar and now the family wanted their daughter to pursue higher education in Pakistan, which required an equivalence certificate. She said the required documents for equivalence of O Levels were submitted on September 14, but on inquiring about the [status] of the certificate on October 3, she learnt that it was still in process. She was worried that her daughter would not be able to meet the deadline to submit her MBBS admission form due to the delay.



Sources at the IBCC office said the certificates went to Quetta for the required sign which caused the delay.

When contacted for comments, IBCC Secretary Hussain Madni avoided answering questions about the IBCC office. At first, The Express Tribune was told to call during official timings while Madni's private secretary said he [Madni] was in a 'meeting' the second time. He remained unreachable afterwards despite repeated calls and text messages.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2018.