PHOTO: FILE
The inquiry committee gave clean chit to Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (RBISE) Chairman Ghulam Dastgeer, Controller Examination Malik Mohsin Abbas, and Punjab Minister for Colonies Fayaz Chohan in the issue of getting extra marks for minister’s son Fawad Chohan.
The committee held only the head-examiner responsible for awarding grace marks to minister’s son and recommended a departmental inquiry against him.
All the remaining individuals with all possible involvement in the issue including board chairman and Fayaz Chohan have been exonerated and a single official has been made responsible.
Officials of RBISE said a high-level meeting of the board has decided not to implement the findings of the report immediately and send it to board’s legal adviser for his opinion. Until then, Fahad’s result card has been stopped, but the board’s administration was unwilling to reduce the grace marks awarded to the student to help him clear physics practical.
As per regulations, if a student clears theory exam but fails in practice, he would be deemed fail and would be required to appear in the exam again.
One of the interesting factors of the inquiry is that the accused head examiner is a senior teacher in Degree College Chakwal while the chairman of the inquiry committee is the principal of the same college.
In this regard, RBISE Spokesman Arsalan Cheema said that the inquiry report had been produced and sent to the higher officials for approval along with legal adviser for a legal opinion.
He maintained that inquiry was impartial and independent of any pressure and said that student’s result card would be released after approval of the report by a related authority.
Fayaz Chohan said that the inquiry began on his application in which he had been exonerated. Talking to The Express Tribune on telephone he said: “My son has not gained a position neither has he taken admission in a medical college, nor infringe rights of any student.”
He said the issue of grace marks was being scandalized because of political affiliation. “I have never met the board chairman, even I came to know his name after the issue,” he said.
Earlier, Fahad had obtained 769 marks in Fsc exam. He had cleared the Physics theory exam, but his practical exam result was stopped after it emerged that his marks were increased from 14 to 30 on political pressure to pass him in the practical exam.
After this, an inquiry committee was formed under Prof Dr Ghulam Muhammad Jhagra to probe into the matter and tasked to complete the inquiry in two days. However, the inquiry took ten days to complete.
According to the inquiry report, the Assistant Examiner Prof Gul Ahmed Faraz had failed Fahad in practical by awarding him 14 out of 30 marks. Later, allegedly owing to political pressure, the Head Examiner Prof Saleem Ramzan awarded full marks to Fahad after which the issue came in the limelight.
During the inquiry, Prof Faraz said that he had done checking on merit basis. He said he refused to sign documents in which grace marks were awarded to the student.
Meanwhile, Prof Ramzan maintained that he had kept merit eminent during paper checking while he was not politically pressurised neither has he ever met the board chairman or provincial minister.
However, the inquiry committee dumped all burden on the head-examiner and held him responsible for marks tempering, recommending a departmental inquiry against him. The committee has given a clean chit to all other elements in the case including the board chairman as well as the minister.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2019.
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