Clearing science exams eased

Passing marks set cumulatively at 33% in theory, lab tests

LAHORE:

Punjab government has decided to revise the criteria for passing the matriculation and intermediate exams in science subjects from the next academic year.

Under a decision of the Inter-Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC), the students will have to secure overall 66 out of the total 200 marks to pass each science subject in the annual exams.

Earlier, the students had to secure 33 per cent marks each in the theory and practical examinations for passing in the science subjects.

According to officials, the provincial government has also decided to revise intermediate and matriculation exam schedule. From the next academic year, the annual exams will begin in March in the province.

The decision to revise the criteria for passing the exams in the science subjects was taken in an IBCC meeting held in the provincial capital.

The chairpersons of all the nine boards of intermediate and secondary education of the province discussed the factors behind an increasing ratio of failure of students in the science subjects.

An IBCC official told The Express Tribune that the committee had discussed in several meetings a review of the marking criteria for the science subjects because of the high rate of failure in all the boards.

As the students had to clear both the theory and practical exams separately, in many cases those securing high marks in theory were declared unsuccessful because of failing in the practical.

It has now been decided that the students will have to secure only 66 aggregate marks in both the exams of a science subject for clearing the matriculation or intermediate level even if they fail in the practical test.

It was also decided that the matriculation and intermediate exams in the province would begin in March because of the hot weather in the later months, the official added.

Commenting on the decision, Punjab Teachers Union president Allah Rakha Gujjar said there were thousands of the schools and colleges in the province that lacked good laboratories for preparing the students for the practical exams.

He said the schools and colleges in the remote districts particularly lacked the infrastructure and laboratories.

There was also a shortage of science teachers in the educational institutions, he pointed out.

The teachers’ union leader said the students were helpless because of the situation and the decision to make thing easier for them should be welcomed.

He said the decision would also provide financial relief to the students and their parents as they used to pay heavy fees to private academies for preparing for the practical exams.

Lahore BISE Public Relations Officer Qaiser Virk said the decision to set the new passing marks criteria had been taken to provide relief to the students.

He said the annual exams of intermediate and matriculation used to be scheduled in March before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the dates had been changed to May and June during the health crisis.

“We have been trying since last year to restore the schedule and now it has been decided that the matriculation and intermediate exams next year will begin in March,” Virk added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2023.