Breach of trust: Exams cancelled in 224 schools as papers leaked

The exams are being ‘centralised’ despite clear instructions against it.


Noman Ahmed February 26, 2014
Students turned up for the exam, only to be told later that it has been delayed. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: The controversial ‘centralised exams’ for the girls’ secondary schools suffered a major loss in credibility on Wednesday as the question papers were available to many students since Tuesday evening.

At least 12 hours prior to the exam, the question papers for the grade six, seven and eight science exam that was scheduled on Wednesday morning at 224 girls’ secondary schools across the city had been leaked out.

The Sindh education department Karachi director for girls’ secondary and higher secondary schools, Syeda Neelofar Ali, who was responsible for setting the question papers, was subsequently informed about the breach, only for her to nonchalantly shrug off the responsibility. “The exam papers are sent to the school principals a day in advance,” said Ali. “It is likely that someone among them is responsible for the leakage.”

Thousands of students turned up for the scheduled exam at 8am and had to undergo an inexplicable wait until they were told by the school heads that the day’s exams have been deferred due to the reports of leaked question papers.

Karachi school education director Niaz Ahmed Laghari, while calling off the day’s exam, declared that the process had been undermined by the security breach. He then formed a three-member committee, consisting of education department officials Hamid Karim, Saleem Awan and Shahid Hussain, to investigate the incident.

Karim, who is the education department Karachi director for academics and training, while talking to The Express Tribune said that the idea of centralised examinations for grades six to eight on the pattern of Matriculation and Intermediate is problematic in the first place.

“The director for girls’ secondary and higher secondary schools (Ali) has conceived it on her own, in violation of the official orders that set the responsibility of making the timetable and the question papers on the school heads,” he said. “It is simply an inefficient way to carry out the exams. However, if it needs to be done, then it should take place with prior planning and should be approved by the authorities.”

Earlier, Ali, without having the approval from high-ups, had collected up to Rs150 from each of the students on the pretext that the question papers and exam timetable will be issued by the office of the district officer instead of school heads.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2014.

COMMENTS (1)

Asif | 10 years ago | Reply

What a shame!! So now papers of class 6, 7 & 8 are also being leaked out!!

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