Thousands of test-takers caught cheating on Sindh local govt exam

Candidates, sitting tests in Nawabshah and Larkana, use cell phones and take question papers outside of the exam hall.

After months of delay, the Sindh government held tests to fill vacancies in the local governments of Larkana and Nawabshah, but candidates were caught blatantly cheating on the written examination.

In Larkana, candidates appeared for written tests for the BPS-17 grade posts of chief municipal officer and town municipal officer and the BPS-16 grade post of medical officer. The test was administered at the premises of Pilot Secondary School.

The question paper was distributed an hour prior to the time the exam was scheduled to begin. Candidates put the extra hour to good use: they took the question paper outside of the examination hall and easily solved it.

Some who continued to attempt the test in the examination hall were allowed use of mobile phones.

This lack of poor administration provoked a number of candidates who gathered at the Jinnah Bagh Chowk to protest. Several of them said that, as the exam was started an hour before scheduled time, they couldn’t even sit the test.

When approached, Larkana’s local government assistant director Abdul Qadir Sheikh refused to comment.

Tests administered in Nawabshah were not managed any better.

As many as 2,000 candidates sat the tests for the positions of medical officer, municipal officer, town officer and engineer. The tests were conducted at H M Khawaja Auditorium, DC High School and Benazir Bhutto Park.

The use of mobile phones was prohibited in the examination room but, while police and administrators looked on, candidates continued to use their phones to cheat on the test.