The writer is a student of the CAS School, Karachi
To whomever it may concern, I write this to you in hopes of finding answers to my queries. We have been informed that there was a breach in security of the Islamiat and Pakistan Studies exams, outside Pakistan. Due to this, all students who had earlier written these exams have to write them again in less than 10 days!
Such a practice has never taken place in the history of the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). I would like to ask you what have students done to deserve this fate? Why should they have to suffer if the British Council was incompetent?
Also, why has it taken so long for the students to be informed? If the Council was already aware of the breach, why did we have to appear for the remaining examinations in the first place?
The news of re-examinations has just caused stress and hardships for the students. If a small minority was aware of the content beforehand, why does the majority have to suffer for their actions?
I urge you to reconsider this decision, as it is simply not practical and is grossly unfair to all the students who wrote their exams with honesty.
Also, what about those students who have left for their summer vacations? Are they now to spend thousands of rupees to fly back to take these exams and, once they do so, do you really think they will be able to fly back and resume their vacation where they left off? Not everybody has the kind of money to afford such luxuries.
If this decision was announced sooner, it might have given students enough time to study, but it’s not practical to expect them to take their exams with a prior notice of just 10 days. Students spend years preparing for this exam — arguably, the most important exam of their life, since college acceptances are based on the results students acquire in their O’ Levels. Do you think 10 days is enough to prepare for this life-altering examination?
Albeit, the British Council has been generous enough to allow students to write the examination in November, this is still unfair. How are students meant to study for three additional examinations in the second year of their O’ Levels? They already have at least eight more subjects to prepare for. How are they supposed to concentrate in class knowing that they haven’t even passed their earlier examinations? How are they meant to learn from their earlier mistakes and improve in the second session of their O’ Levels?
The British Council may find consolation in providing us with this option but it is hardly an option. If students do opt to write the examinations in November, it will be purely out of necessity and not choice.
Another practical approach to ensure the integrity of these exams would be to retest those areas where the leak has occurred and not the rest. For the remaining, a mere comparison of expected grades and achieved grades would surely determine whether the information reached these areas. Areas with a vast difference in both should then be asked to give their examinations again.
I sincerely hope you consider my suggestions and act accordingly. Consider those who worked day and night to achieve good results and are now being forced to retake the exams just because someone, somewhere, not even remotely related to them has been grossly dishonest and incompetent.
Please think about the remaining majority.
Sincerely,
Maha Raheel Ahmad
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (17)
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@Qasim Malik: I'm not complaining.. I am studying, thank you for your concern. These are points that I feel need to be addressed, and I found Tribune as an effective platform to voice my opinion. :)
@Qasim Malik: I don't know why everybody is making assumptions I'm not studying, when I'm dedicating myself to my studies currently... These aren't complaints; these are valid queries that I feel the Board and Council need to address if they expect us to appear for these examinations. Why the delays in informing candidates? If you think this was written simply to complain, I can assure you that was not my intention. :)
@Latif: With all due respect, this only took me five minutes to write. And I'm sure those five minutes were effectively utilized if I spent them on voicing a productive opinion, on a matter I feel very strongly about. Thank you for the concern; I surely am studying. :)
@Caitlin Malik: I agree with the first two points. But for the third, if a breach was detected, could they not have informed candidates earlier? It just would've made life a little easier. And O' Levels are important as they are the basis for our admissions in A' Level institutes.
@Arsalan Syed: The CIE itself has admitted that it is at fault. You can look at their statements for reference. The leak didn't happen inside of Pakistan, but in London where the papers are published and made. The students flying out may be wealthy, but I'm sure they can't resume their vacations after appearing for the exams. Beyond unfair to spend so much money, and then being forced to return. That was the point I was trying to prove. :)
@Latif: :)
Quit Yappin and start studying. Life is not fair neither is it easy. You want to prepare yourself for the real world then you better start dealing with short deadlines and stressful situations. Nobody likes to hear excuses and people expect work to be done. Rather complaining i'd suggest you use this time and prepare for the exam again.
The amazing thing is not that O level exams sprung a leak but how similar the o level students sound to our Matric ones.
Two of your O levels grades are not life-altering, trust me. Looking back - I personally regret taking O levels so damn seriously. Minor differences A* or A or B don't matter at all. (Only maybe to posh Brits looking to get into Eton for A levels or something).
The story is different for A levels because of college application deadlines - one could end up losing a year - and strict A-level grade requirements. So let's hope they review their systems and make sure this never happens again, especially to an A level exam.
So the always perfect and efficient British Council also join the habit of re-exam, reason that there were was incompetence at play by some of their officials. Well, those officials will not be fired but poor students will be made to suffer. Story of powerful versus the weak, one powerful make a mistake and all poor have to suffer.
Hats off for such dedication and ethics. In the end British Council is no angel also, run by humans. They might have different skin though.
I can certainly empathize with you. The British Council really messed things up but you shouldn't forget that it's only O levels. I completed my O levels 2 years ago and from personal experience-and I'm certainly no genius- I can tell you that you don't need more than 10 days to prepare, especially for subjects like Islamiat. Hopefully, the BC will accommodate the needs of students by offering free re-sits in Novemeber for students who can't attend next week's exams.
Maha, this is a reasonably written piece, especially for your age, in terms of grammar and syntax but it lacks a critical analysis of the situation. a) the CIE exams are sat across the world by millions of students. Such a large system has to act on a large scale, it does not have the flexibility to treat each student individually. b) with modern technology, any leak anywhere can be shared internationally within seconds. How can CIE assume the leak has remained localized? c) there is a set examination period for O' levels. My guess is CIE already clearly states that any candidate must be available for that period in case of problems. If a candidate chooses not to read the fine print and to plan holidays within this exam period, that candidate is at fault. d) O' levels are not life-altering, they are just your first taste of a formal exam that actually means anything. Good luck today, if you studied for the exams two weeks ago, you will still know the content.
Stop wasting time on the blog and study for your exams ;)
Hi Maha, I share your concern on innocent students having to suffer because of the mischief of a few. Good article, and thank you for writing it. I have just a few recommendation to avoid inconsistencies in the future: You wrote, "there was a breach in security of the Islamiat and Pakistan Studies exams, outside Pakistan"- This doesnt sound right. One would expect Pakistan Studies to be offered only to Pakistani students; so the chances of the leak happening outside Pakistan is really really low You wrote, " Are they now to spend thousands of rupees to fly back to take these exams and, once they do so, do you really think they will be able to fly back and resume their vacation where they left off? Not everybody has the kind of money to afford such luxuries"- Again presumably, students that flew out of Pakistan after the exams and to escape the summer heat,are very few in number, and presumably they have return tickets as well. So, yes, there holidays may get cut short, but they can fly back! Also, students and parents that fly out of Pakistan are usually rich- poverty cannot be the reason for their inability to come back and reappear for an exam..can it??!!
Good writeup on the whole..keep it up!!
Those who have studied and are ready must not be afraid of re-tests. In fact many in other countries take SAT, PSAT and GRE tests several times to see if they can increase their score. It is unfortunate that those good students would have to study a few more days but it is not unfair. If a student (in quest of knowledge) has a chance to study more and increase the score it may be a blessing in disguise. This is real life and things happen on which nobody has control.
This practice is quite common in the UK on whose system the CIE is based and this has happened before. Go and study, this is more common than you think, whether at this level or in university. As for predicted grades and achieved grades, predicted grades are a poor indicator of performance. Why would you lobby for a compromise which would devalue a qualification you have studied so hard for? If you have prepared for the exam sitting it again in a country where the vast vast majority of children have no access to education is a non-issue. The needs of the 20,000 in Pakistan will always outweigh the needs of the 25 million out of school. Just look at the headlines.
"How are students meant to study for three additional examinations in the second year of their O’ Levels? They already have at least eight more subjects to prepare for. How are they supposed to concentrate in class knowing that they haven’t even passed their earlier examinations? How are they meant to learn from their earlier mistakes and improve in the second session of their O’ Levels?"
I don't understand why students in Pakistan take two of their examinations a year before. I took all my O levels in one season at the age of 16 in the UAE