Pindi board arson: Rumours that most students had failed sparked protest

‘Teachers had urged students to stay calm in case results deteriorated, causing students to panic’.

RAWALPINDI: The attack on the office of the Rawalpindi board on Thursday was spurred by fear in students’ minds that most of them, including those who had originally passed, had failed. 

Muhammad Faizan, a student at a private college, said their teachers had “urged” them to stay calm in case their results deteriorated. This is what sparked panic among the students and led to the subsequent protest, ransacking and torching of the board office, Faizan added.

The fact that the results were being delayed indefinitely did not help. Seven other boards in Punjab had announced the results for intermediate part-I after rechecking on November 30. “The students were worried and frustrated,” he said.

The principal of a government college, asking not to be named, confirmed that Rawalpindi board officials had told them that the number of failing students might rise.

A board official close to the rechecking process confirmed the rumour, saying after rechecking, 74% more candidates had failed than the results announced in October.

He also confirmed that the authorities in the Higher Education Department met with the heads of government and private institutions in Rawalpindi last month and asked them to keep their students calm in case the results deteriorated, the official said.

He said the government has “decided” to compensate failing candidates by giving them the same marks in intermediate part-I as they obtain in intermediate part-II.

However, Rawalpindi Board Acting Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashraf rejected this claim, saying they had taken no such decision and the results would only be revealed on December 24.

He said if any errors were found, the aggrieved candidates would be compensated according to a mechanism decided by the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2011.