Absent from internal exam: Sit your midterms or forget about finals

College fines absentees; denies exam slips to SSC students who failed to pay up.

ISLAMABAD:

Students at a government college complained that the college administration had refused to give them exam slips till they paid fines imposed by the college for their failure to sit an internal exam.

The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) has issued examination slips of the students who were going to appear in the upcoming Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination, starting from March 18.

According to the Islamabad Model College for Boys, I-8/3 students, the college principal has imposed a fine of Rs300 per paper on students who did not sit the recently-held internal exams examination.

“All students who did not come for the internal exam have been asked to pay fines before getting their board exam slips,” said a 9th class student.

An official at the college who wished not to be named said over 150 students failed to show up. He said it was important to discourage absenteeism among students. “If you don’t put a bar on them, they will habitually skip exams and that is why we have opted for fines,” he said.

According to a teacher at the college, fines for absentees were also imposed last year, but were later withdrawn after parents protested.

The internal exam date sheets issued to the students also carries a warning that students who do not appear for the internal exams will be fined.

“I submitted Rs1,200 to get the exam slip for my son, who is going to appear in the exam starting on March 17,” said Hassan Ali, the father of a 10th grader, as he left the college.

College principal Professor Iqbal Ahmed Azhar refused to comment on the issue, while vice principal Nisar Malik did not respond to multiple phone calls.

Federal Directorate of Education Director General Akhtar Mehmood Malik was of the view that the Rs100 per paper fine the college was imposing was quite nominal and found it acceptable as “it is necessary to bind students to sit their exams”.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2014.