Left with no choice: APS students to sit for exams despite doctors’ warnings

Federal board says if school sends request for delay, it will act accordingly

KARACHI: Ninety-three days on, the wounds of Army Public School (APS) victims are still fresh. Flashbacks still haunt the survivors and rehabilitation is still under way. Yet in the middle of perhaps the most challenging times of their lives, the affected APS students confront another hurdle in shape of the looming board examinations. At the moment, the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams are scheduled for March 25 and 27 for grade nine and grade ten students respectively. There is no official or unofficial indication that APS students will be allowed to give these exams at a later date.

Perhaps not enough has been written and said about the post-traumatic stress disorder which students who witnessed the horrific ordeal of 16/12 are expected to suffer from – one way or the other. While some survivors of the horrific massacre have been able to recover from their physical injuries, others continue to battle both physical and psychological distress. Signs of both were quite visible with the 30 odd students who were brought to Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Karachi for medical assistance. Parents of some survivors who are still in Peshawar have reported symptoms of PTSD.



“Trauma of such nature affects the hippocampus (an area in the brain responsible for recollection of facts and knowledge)… which can lead to academic difficulties and poor performance in exams,” says the letter signed by AKUH Assistant Professor Dr Tania Nadeem from the psychiatry department. This document which has been given to the students under treatment at AKUH is addressed to the federal board of education, Peshawar Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, the chief of army staff and the APS administration.

“Appearing for board exams in the near future will be extremely stressful to them and may even be detrimental to their coping and long-term recovery,” added the letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune. The psychiatrist has further recommended a change of learning regimes, assessment based on previous performance rather than coercing the victims to compete with children who prepared for their board examinations under normal circumstances.

Tenth grader Maaz Irfan is one of the fortunate students who managed to escape alive from the hell that struck the school auditorium. His right hand and arm are yet to recover fully and he worries his health is deteriorating by the day. With fresh check-ups scheduled at AKUH for the week of March 23, he does not know how he will appear for the exams in Peshawar.

Twelfth grader Aamir Mehboob has been discharged and has returned to Peshawar and will continue his treatment at Combined Military Hospital. “I don’t know what will come of my exams. My college applications are also due,” Mehboob told The Express Tribune over the telephone.

The evident psychological duress of these students appears rather too trivial to authorities who, according to insiders, refuse to “disrupt the entire system” in order to facilitate schoolboys who suffered at the hands of terrorism. According to clinical psychologist Nida Khan, a lack of legislation has resulted in the marginalisation of psychological care in Pakistan.

A copy of the letter issued by AKUH Psychiatry Department.

APS exam cell in charge Waqarullah Khattak said the only concern at this point is the students who wish to withdraw and not appear for board exams voluntarily. He said students Sartaj Aziz, Obaid Sajid, Sadat Siraj, Hasan bin Qaiser and Irteza Bakhmal in SSC and Aamir Mehboob and Waheed Anjum in FSc, will have replacements write for them while they dictate the answers.

However, Khattak disagreed with the recommendations of AKUH and said the students are “quite capable” of appearing for the exams. “SSC exams are scheduled to begin from March while FSc exams are expected to start in April,” he said.

Lack of will

While talking to The Express Tribune, former K-P minister for education and ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak said the entire issue is based on trivial bureaucratic procedures and a lack of political will. “The problem can be resolved with a mere stroke of a pen,” he maintained.

‘Ball is in their court’

Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Islamabad Controller Examinations Qasim Ali Kazmi said the board has facilitated the school administration with whatever they have requested. “Any medical reports or doctors’ recommendations are not in my knowledge. If the school sends a request, we will take it up with the federal ministry and act accordingly,” he said.

K-P Minister for Education Muhammad Atif could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2015.