Govt to thwart copy culture: minister

Rahu says controller of examination will be held responsible for cheating

KARACHI:

Taking notice of the copy culture that is spreading like a plague among the students in Sindh, Minister for Boards and Universities Mohammad Ismail Rahu announced on Friday to take the action against the controller of exams concerned if students are caught cheating.

Speaking in the Sindh Assembly, Rahu said that the cheating in the exams has now become endemic and his ministry has been trying to thwart it.

"During the exams, we have confiscated many mobile phones from the students and have registered cases against the people involved in promoting the copy culture. There is dire need to focus on quality education so that students don't indulge in this practice," the minister said.

Rebutting the reports about the question papers being leaked in various districts of Sindh before the exams, Ismail Rahu said, "we have conducted inquiries into it and answers on questions papers are released online an hour after the exams start."

Talking about the hours-long loadshedding in various towns and cities where the exams centers are set up, the minister added that he had written letters to power utility companies in different divisions, but no one heeded to his requests and hours-long load shedding continues.

During the session, the issue of exorbitant fares being charged by the transporters in Karachi and other districts of Sindh was raised. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan Parliamentary Leader Rana Ansar while moving the call attention notice asked the Sindh Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon about his government's step to control the illegal fares. "Even after fuel price reduction, the transporters are unwilling to reverse the fares," she said, adding that some sorts of mafias are running the transports looting the commuters. "Government must take notice of it," she said.

Memon was of the view that he had written letters to the transporters to reduce the fares. According to Memon, During the Eid the officials of the transport department kept vigil on the inter-city buses and recovered the extra fares for commuters. "For those who travel in Peoples Bus Service, we have fixed the fare that is Rs50 per person," he said. "The Sindh government is giving the subsidy to Peoples Bus Service operators and will not increase even a single rupee even after fuel prices go up," Memon said.

Ali Khursheedi of MQM in his call attention notice asked why Orange Bus is not inter-connected with the Green Line bus services. "With this, more people will benefit from it," he said.

The transport minister was of the view that the Green Line Bus Project belongs to the Federal government and after three years, it would be handed over to the provincial government. "We are coordinating with the federal government how to inter-connect both the transport lanes. We have extra buses for it and this issue will be resolved soon," he said.

Earlier, as the session started with Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in chair, the chief minister's special assistant on Information Technology Tanzeela Umi Habiba informed the house that her department was working to bring drastic changes in government department by introducing the new technology with internet facilities so that they can connect themselves with the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2023.