Result fiasco: First-year students hold second protest against BIEK
This time the protesters had a majority of boys, and 40 girls, out of total 150.
KARACHI:
As they promised, the first-year students protested again on Wednesday against “mistakes” in their results by the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK).
Around 150 students gathered at Karachi Press Club, holding placards and banners. This time, a majority of them were boys. There were about 40 girls.
“Our college principal thinks that we only want media exposure,” said a student of Government Girls Degree College in Gizri. “But the fact is that she warned us of suspensions and we are forced to hide our identities.”
The protesters were from Khatoon-e-Pakistan Government College for Women, Government Boys Degree College Korangi 6, Government Girls Degree College Korangi 2.5, Government Islamia Science College and Government Girls Degree College Gizri.
From the press club the students went to Sindh Assembly building and staged a sit-in outside it till 5 pm. The police tried to disperse them several times by threatening baton charge.
“Just to prefer transparency over secrecy, I’ve already offered the students to check their answer scripts,” said BIEK’s controller of examinations, Imran Khan Chishti. “What can I say if they still choose to protest?”
The mother of a student at Islamia college claimed that she checked her daughter’s Physics answer script. “Her answer to a question regarding derivations was perfectly correct,” she said. “But the examiner gave her zero marks.”
According to Chishti, there may be very few cases, like always, where an error might have occured because of the negligence of the examiner or the BIEK’s record keeping staff. “If the claims are correct, we will rectify all such mistakes,” said Chishti. “But if a student claims that he got six out of ten but he deserved more, then it is the examiner’s decision and not a matter for the BIEK to solve.”
Even in that case, added the controller, he was ready to refer the answer scripts back to the head examiner.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2011.
As they promised, the first-year students protested again on Wednesday against “mistakes” in their results by the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK).
Around 150 students gathered at Karachi Press Club, holding placards and banners. This time, a majority of them were boys. There were about 40 girls.
“Our college principal thinks that we only want media exposure,” said a student of Government Girls Degree College in Gizri. “But the fact is that she warned us of suspensions and we are forced to hide our identities.”
The protesters were from Khatoon-e-Pakistan Government College for Women, Government Boys Degree College Korangi 6, Government Girls Degree College Korangi 2.5, Government Islamia Science College and Government Girls Degree College Gizri.
From the press club the students went to Sindh Assembly building and staged a sit-in outside it till 5 pm. The police tried to disperse them several times by threatening baton charge.
“Just to prefer transparency over secrecy, I’ve already offered the students to check their answer scripts,” said BIEK’s controller of examinations, Imran Khan Chishti. “What can I say if they still choose to protest?”
The mother of a student at Islamia college claimed that she checked her daughter’s Physics answer script. “Her answer to a question regarding derivations was perfectly correct,” she said. “But the examiner gave her zero marks.”
According to Chishti, there may be very few cases, like always, where an error might have occured because of the negligence of the examiner or the BIEK’s record keeping staff. “If the claims are correct, we will rectify all such mistakes,” said Chishti. “But if a student claims that he got six out of ten but he deserved more, then it is the examiner’s decision and not a matter for the BIEK to solve.”
Even in that case, added the controller, he was ready to refer the answer scripts back to the head examiner.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2011.