Anxious times

Thousands of students are anxiously waiting for their CIE Ordinary and Advanced Level results today.

LAHORE: “For a lot of students this is it”, said Talha Bin Mohsin, one of the thousands of students anxiously awaiting their University of Cambridge International Examination (CIE) Ordinary and Advanced Level result, which comes out this Thursday.

For Talha this result is not such a huge worry. He has already secured an admission in Connecticut College, USA with a 100 percent scholarship, based on his school transcripts and SAT score. For many others who will be applying to universities within Pakistan and abroad, there is a lot at stake.

“We are all really tense. Its tough getting into Agha Khan [Medical University]”, Asad Javed, noted in a nervous voice.

For many like Asad this result will determine which graduate school they go to and how their life pans from there.

Thousands of students sit in the CIE exam sessions each year with the number rising every year. In most schools the O-level programme is 3 years and the A-Level programme is 2 years long.  Many students also give the exam privately.

It is a tough time for students and teachers alike. “We have done our best to teach them, and now we can just pray”, said Shahbaz Ahmad, a veteran Chemistry teacher at Lahore Grammar School (LGS).

Aizaz Ahsan, an A-level student however is expecting the worst; “It is best to keep your hopes down. So many variables, so much could go wrong.” Aizaz, however, has already secured a seat in an LLB programme at University College Lahore.

Others however don’t care much for religious rituals. “It all depends on how much hard work the student has put in”, said Ali Moeed, an A-level student at LGS. When asked whether he thinks the results largely depend on the whims of the examiner, he said “people might fail after studying hard, but no one’s ever passed by not studying at all”.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2010.