Sindh govt fails in exam management

Matric physics paper leaked on social media, students face over an hour delay

KARACHI:

Amid mismanagement and late arrival of papers, grades IX and X examinations of the secondary school certificate examination started with inordinate delays across the province, including Karachi.

The grade X science students had come to the centres following the coronavirus prevention SOPs announced by the government to solve the paper devised as per the concised course in view of prolonged closure of schools.

However, they kept waiting for the question papers which did not come even after passage of one-and-a half hour. As per rule, students cannot go out once they enter the examination hall, they were stuck like passengers in a marooned aircraft. Many students showed their wrist watches to The Express Tribune photographer to confirm that it was 10:10 am whereas they were supposed to get question papers at 9:00am.

Sources claim that examination papers arrived half-an-hour-late at the examination hub set up by the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) in Central district. Whereas in Government Girls Secondary School Sachal, Bahria Model 1 School and Dhoraji V M Public School as well as various other examination centers, the question papers couldn't be delivered till 12pm.

The exam commenced at 10:30am, 11:30 am, 12 pm and 1:30 pm at various examination centres. The teachers and parents faced problems due to the delay in the distribution of question papers.

Parents and students protested against the delays. Many of the parents said that they had reached the examination center prior to the specified timings, but the papers did not reach the centers on time.

Exams, which were scheduled to begin at 9:30 am, could not even commence till 12pm. The affected people demanded the board chairman to take an action against those responsible for the delay.

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According to a statement issued by the BSEK, the question paper for physics arrived late at some of the 443 examination centres on the first annual exam 2021 due to the absence and irresponsibility of Centre Control Officer (CCO).

Besides, the cheating mafia remained active this year as well, reports suggested. The physics question paper, prior to reaching the examination centres, went viral on social media.

BSEK Chairperson Sharf Ali Shah, while speaking to the media during his visit to examination centers, said the papers commenced on Monday after a year. He said that two hours of time has been allocated for each paper. He added that authorities tried to deliver the question sheets in a timely fashion.

He claimed the vehicles were dispatched at 8am for the delivery of the examination papers to the examination hubs therefore the investigations will be conducted to identify why the examination papers could not reach the centres on time.

"BSEK will take stern legal action against the absent CCOs and a three-member committee, comprising senior officers Hur Mazhar, Khalid Ehsan and Syed Munir Hassan, has been set up for inquiring the matter," said Shah. The committee will submit its report to the BSEK chairperson within three days, he added.

Shah said that additional time was granted at the examination centers where the papers arrived late.

The BSEK chairperson declared that the leaked Grade X paper situation would be probed thoroughly through a committee.

Shah assured for a better arrangements for Tuesday, such as the provision of sanitizers and face masks.

A similar mismanagement was witnessed during the Grade X general group's Islamic Studies and Economics exam. These exams were scheduled to start at 2:30 pm in the evening shift but couldn't start by 5pm at some examination centres.

Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani, in his statement, said that information of examination papers arriving late has been received.

The minister assured that the matric and intermediate boards did not fall under his ministry, yet he is looking into the matters.

All the concerned chairpersons and examination controllers have been directed to ensure the timely arrival of examination papers on Tuesday, he added.

As many as 438 examination centers, comprising 185 government schools and 253 private schools, have been set up for annual examination 2021 for Grade IX and Grade X.

A total of 201 examination centers have been established for girls while 237 centers have been established for boys. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the students under one-time policy were promoted last year without exams.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2021.