Sindh mulls outsourcing board exams

Chairmen of boards under increasing pressure to endorse the proposal

KARACHI:

Sindh's Department of Universities and Boards is learnt to have been considering outsourcing the entire examination system of the public and private educational institutions to a private company allegedly in violation of the laws.

There has been pressure on the chairmen of all boards of Sindh to hand over entirely or part of the conduct of the annual exam 2023 to a private company, named "Red Marker", which is not even based in Sindh, one board chairman told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

He further claimed that the company wanted to take over the entire process - from preparation of the papers to conduct of exams and assessment of copies - for matric students in four parts starting this year. The company also aspires to take over the first three stages of the inter exams 2023, leaving the fourth and final stage pertaining to preparation of results to the boards.

The chairmen of different boards have expressed concerns at the move, wondering that if the province's security would also be handed over to a private agency if the Police Department does not perform or gets involved in financial corruption.

It all started with a letter from Chairman Larkana Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Naseem Memon to the Department of Universities and Boards, recommending that the annual exams be outsourced for the "sake of transparency and accuracy".

However, a number of current and former chairmen of boards dismissed the recommendation, saying that there is no provision in the Universities and Boards Act for outsourcing the exams. "It is a figment of somebody's imagination. The law has to be amended for outsourcing the conduct of exams. This move sends out a message that the government has lost trust in its institutions," Dr Muhammad Memon, former chairman Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Hyderabad, told The Express Tribune.

When contacted, Universities and Boards Secretary Murad Rahimo confirmed to The Express Tribune that the provincial government was studying the proposal to outsource the conduct of exams to the Red Marker company. "The relevant law will be amended in the next few days," he said. "After which, it will be possible to conduct the exams through IBA, Aga Khan Education Board, Red Marker, or any organisation," he added.

Rahimo claimed that corruption was rampant in the boards. Anyone getting the key posting in a board is tempted to get involved in financial corruption because such positions are often acquired through bribery. "Therefore, it is necessary to outsource the conduct of exams," he added. In some boards, chairmen are appointed on an ad-hoc basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2023.