Inter exams begin: leak attempt foiled

The annual intermediate examinations under the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) began on Wednesday, with officials claiming that enhanced security measures helped foil a paper leak attempt on the very first day.

According to BIEK Chairman Ghulam Muhammad Lakho, over 160,000 students are appearing in the exams in morning and evening shifts, while a total of 175 examination centres have been established across the metropolis.

Officials said an attempt to leak the Botany paper from an examination centre in Gadap was traced and thwarted through the board's watermark system. The paper reportedly surfaced in WhatsApp groups nearly half an hour after the start of the exam.

A special team at BIEK's control room identified the centre - Government Degree College, Konkar Village, Gadap - through the watermark embedded on the paper. Acting on the information, vigilance officer Hina Sheikh conducted a search at the centre, during which a mobile phone was recovered from a female candidate. The device contained the leaked paper.

The centre administration registered a case against the candidate in accordance with rules and forwarded it to the board for further action.

Lakho said additional measures had been put in place to ensure transparency, including e-marking and the OMR system for science papers to facilitate timely results.

He said Rescue 1122 services had also been engaged at examination centres in view of the prevailing heatwave conditions.