A, A-1 boom delays Matric Science results

Unusual high number of top grades leads to special verification

KARACHI:

The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) has postponed the announcement of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Part-II (Matric Science) examination results for two days after initiating a special verification exercise to scrutinise an unusually high number of A-1 and A grades.

The move follows preliminary data indicating that the number of top-grade achievers this year is significantly higher than last year's results, prompting the board to re-verify the compiled results before their official release.

Acting BSEK Chairman Masharraf Rajput told The Express Tribune that approximately 86,000 candidates had secured A-1 and A grades out of nearly 175,000 students who appeared in the examinations. The verification was not being carried out by the board's regular staff but by experienced and reputable teachers, who were matching the compiled results with manual award sheets and, where necessary, cross-checking them against the original answer scripts of students awarded A-1 and A grades.

The unusually high proportion of top grades has also raised speculation that widespread cheating during the examinations may have contributed to the increase. During the examination period, several centres were shifted repeatedly, while complaints of large-scale use of unfair means were widely reported.

The govt had ordered an inquiry into the conduct of the examinations. However, before the inquiry report could be made public, the then chairman of the Matric Board resigned.