ZU examinations board prepares for first intake this April

With the formation of ZU's examination board, there are now six boards operating in Karachi

KARACHI: Ziauddin University (ZU) has established its own examination board and will conduct its first matric and intermediate examinations this year.

Ziauddin University Examination Board's bill was passed in Sindh Assembly in November, 2018.

With the formation of ZU's examination board, there are now six examination boards operating in Karachi which include the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK), Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK), Agha Khan Board, Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and International Baccalaureate (IB).

The examination process under ZU's board will commence from April 15, whereas the examinations under the BSEK will be held in March. Therefore, the students who failed to get themselves enrolled with BSEK can appear in the exams by enrolling themselves with the Ziauddin University Examination Board.

The examination board chairperson is Dr Nadia Hussain and the executive director is Prof Anwar Ahmed Zai. The board of directors includes Hilton Pharma Chairperson Sardar Yaseen Malik, Iqra University founder Hunaid Lakhani, Ziauddin University College of Medicine founder Faizan Saeed and member of Ziauddin Intermediate College Medical Technology programme, Aisha Iqbal. School education secretary, college education secretary, universities and boards secretary, private institutions director-general and inter-board committee of chairperson's head are included as ex-officio members.

While talking to The Express Tribune, the executive director said that every year around 300,000 or even more students are enrolled in the matric board, of which students from the private sector constitute 70% and government school students constitute 30%. He added that people often complain that the examination process is unfair, the arrangements are inadequate and that papers are leaked to the public. He said that ZU's board would function privately and private schools can register with it. He added that they would welcome government schools that want to register with them.

The executive director said that previously there were separate boards for Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and other districts. However, he said, Ziauddin University Examination Board would facilitate all the districts of Sindh.

BSEK Chairperson Prof Dr Saeeduddin said that around 300,000 to 350,000 students get enrolled in the matric board every year, which include 3,000 students from private schools and around 700 from government schools registered with BSEK. He said that their turnout has not been affected and added that if a new board wanted to contribute towards improving education then they welcome it.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2019.