Delay in results: Unchecked papers likely to pull students back a year
Sindh Board of Technical Education has yet to send answer scripts to teachers.
The board is expected to spend at least three more months compiling the results of 28 distinct engineering technologies from all across the Sindh, The Express Tribune learnt from an official of the board. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The academic year of over 14,000 graduating students is at risk as even after two months of the Diploma of Associate Engineer exams, the Sindh Board of Technical Education (SBTE) has yet to start the assessment process by dispatching answer scripts to teachers.
The board is expected to spend at least three more months compiling the results of 28 distinct engineering technologies from all across the Sindh, The Express Tribune learnt from an official of the board. This delay in issuing results is likely to result in the loss of one academic year to students as most universities and institutes of higher education close their admissions by that time.
The performance of the provincial technical education board is upsetting for the students, but it doesn’t come as a surprise - the board is known to issue students’ marks sheets three to four months after a candidate graduates and takes at least four more years in issuing their certificates.
“This delay leaves students in the lurch in case they want to apply for government jobs or immigration where possession of original certificate is a must,” said Farrukh Jamil, a student at the Government College of Technology located in SITE. “Even a delay of four to five months in issuing students’ marks sheets can often result in loss of one year.”
On the other hand, the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi is set to announce the result on August 28 after conducting exams of over 160,000 students- a much larger number when compared to the SBTE -in May.
When The Express Tribune approached the SBTE Secretary, Waheed Ahmed Shaikh, for his comments, he said that he was not authorised to talk to the media as per recent directives issued by the board’s chairperson.
In an earlier interview with The Express Tribune in January, Shaikh had boasted that the technical education board for the first time in its history was experimenting with a centralised system for answer script assessment, following which students’ results will be issued in less than one month period.
The designated spokesperson of the SBTE, Rashid Aziz, however, accepted that the board has yet to begin the assessment process by dispatching answer scripts to teachers. “Though the technical board’s results get delayed every year due to inadvertent issues, there is no justification for the delay this year,” he said.
He added that the endeavour of the centralised assessment was subject to computerisation of the board’s examination department, which could not be achieved. Hence, the board will employ the manual method of assessment this year as well.
While explaining the earlier practice, he said that students’ answer scripts were distributed among the teachers at various monotechnic and polytechnic institutions located in provincial districts, who would then submit the results as per their convenience.
Aziz, however, claimed that the board has still got time to meet the deadline of issuing results in September as mentioned in the SBTE annual calendar.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2013.
The academic year of over 14,000 graduating students is at risk as even after two months of the Diploma of Associate Engineer exams, the Sindh Board of Technical Education (SBTE) has yet to start the assessment process by dispatching answer scripts to teachers.
The board is expected to spend at least three more months compiling the results of 28 distinct engineering technologies from all across the Sindh, The Express Tribune learnt from an official of the board. This delay in issuing results is likely to result in the loss of one academic year to students as most universities and institutes of higher education close their admissions by that time.
The performance of the provincial technical education board is upsetting for the students, but it doesn’t come as a surprise - the board is known to issue students’ marks sheets three to four months after a candidate graduates and takes at least four more years in issuing their certificates.
“This delay leaves students in the lurch in case they want to apply for government jobs or immigration where possession of original certificate is a must,” said Farrukh Jamil, a student at the Government College of Technology located in SITE. “Even a delay of four to five months in issuing students’ marks sheets can often result in loss of one year.”
On the other hand, the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi is set to announce the result on August 28 after conducting exams of over 160,000 students- a much larger number when compared to the SBTE -in May.
When The Express Tribune approached the SBTE Secretary, Waheed Ahmed Shaikh, for his comments, he said that he was not authorised to talk to the media as per recent directives issued by the board’s chairperson.
In an earlier interview with The Express Tribune in January, Shaikh had boasted that the technical education board for the first time in its history was experimenting with a centralised system for answer script assessment, following which students’ results will be issued in less than one month period.
The designated spokesperson of the SBTE, Rashid Aziz, however, accepted that the board has yet to begin the assessment process by dispatching answer scripts to teachers. “Though the technical board’s results get delayed every year due to inadvertent issues, there is no justification for the delay this year,” he said.
He added that the endeavour of the centralised assessment was subject to computerisation of the board’s examination department, which could not be achieved. Hence, the board will employ the manual method of assessment this year as well.
While explaining the earlier practice, he said that students’ answer scripts were distributed among the teachers at various monotechnic and polytechnic institutions located in provincial districts, who would then submit the results as per their convenience.
Aziz, however, claimed that the board has still got time to meet the deadline of issuing results in September as mentioned in the SBTE annual calendar.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2013.