July 30, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 19,1423

KARACHI, July 29: Girls bagged five out of the six top positions in the consolidated merit list of secondary school certificate (science group) annual examinations 2002.

The Board of Secondary Education, Karachi, announced the results on Monday and handed over the mark sheets to the first three position holders in the boys and girls merit lists at the Karachi Press Club.

There were two successful candidates against each of the three top positions in the consolidated merit list.

The overall pass percentage remained 60.04, which was about 6.81 per cent higher than that of the last year. The number of candidates having appeared in the 2002 science group examinations increased by 4.41 per cent this year.

The position holders remained neck and neck as there was a difference of only 0.47 per cent. The first position holder obtained 787 out of 850 marks, while the third position holder secured 783 marks.

Sahr Sami, roll No 321,976, of Mama Parsi Girls Secondary School, and Farzana Nawaz Ali, roll No 322,484, of the St Joseph’s Convent High School, clinched the first positions, while Rana Naimatullah, roll No 247,946, of National High School, and Hura Masroor, roll No 313,850, of White House Grammar School, bagged second positions.

Third position was shared by students of another two private schools, Sana Qamar, roll number 304,611, of Dhaka Boys and Girls Secondary School, and Faiza Farooq, roll No 313,622, of Ali Ali Boys/Girls Secondary School.

In all, 79,329 candidates, including 33,196 girls, had appeared in the examinations, out of whom 47,627, including 22,923 girls, were declared pass. The pass percentage of girl candidates remained 69.05, while that of the boys was 53.55.

Results of 102 candidates were withheld as they allegedly adopted unfair means during the examinations. Results of another 655 candidates were withheld for “want of correct information”, said a BSE notification.

Meanwhile, after not finding their roll numbers in the BSE’s gazette of successful candidates, a number of students, including those from some good private schools, reached the Board Office in the afternoon, doubting discrepancy in the results.

Some of the students told Dawn that at the Board Office around 4pm, roll numbers were missing in chunk and most probably some major technical problem had occurred, otherwise the students did not see any reason for exclusion of their roll numbers.

Though the controller of examinations of the Board was not available, a senior official said that if the roll numbers of candidates were not included in the BSE notifications despite their success, it should be treated as a human error.

“As we prepare results of 70 to 80 thousand students with pressure mounting on us to meet the deadline set by the government, the human error factor can not be ruled out,” added the official.

An official of the BSE examination section said students had started reporting about the problem. In many cases marks of class IX examinations could not be located or carried over properly by the staff as particulars in the class X examination forms were not given correctly, the official maintained.

THE BREAKDOWN OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES IS AS FOLLOWS:

Boys: A-1 grade 1,806; A 4678; B 6,417; C 7,522, D 4,086; E 166 and pass 29.

Girls: A-1 grade 3241; A 5830; B 7021; C 45428; D 1385; E 13 and pass 5.

GENDER-WISE MERIT LIST:

Boys: first: Rana Naimatullah, roll No 247,946, National High School; second: Syed Khizar Ali Zaidi, roll No 261,415, Habib Public School; third: Arsalan Anwer, roll No 247,875, National High School, and Zohaib Akhtar, roll No 257,159, Crescent Public High School, and Muhammad Zubair Mateen, roll No 261,176, BVS Parsi High School.

Girls: first: Sahr Sami, roll No 321,976, Mama Parsi Girls Secondary School and Farzana Nawaz Ali, roll No 322,484, St Joseph’s Convent High School.

Second: Hura Masroor, roll No 304,611, White House Grammar School; third: Sama Qamar, roll No 304,611, Dhaka Boys and Girls Secondary School, and Faiza Farooq, roll No 313,622, Ali Ali Boys/Girls Secondary School.

Talking to Dawn a majority of the position holders stressed the needs for bringing changes in pattern of question papers of the examinations. They appreciated the papers of Islamiat and English and urged the Board to introduce more multiple choice questions.

Some of the candidates, while referring to marks they obtained in class IX and their high hopes, mentioned that they had not been given due marks in the class X examinations. However, they pointed out that they achieved positions due to their hard works only, as manoeuvring and deals did not ensure top positions.

Sahr Sami, who shared the overall first position with Farzana Nawaz Ali, said she wanted to become a doctor. She said illiteracy and population growth were the two big problems of the country and the government and NGOs should make efforts for establishment of schools in the rural areas so that 100 per cent primary education could be ensured in the country.

Rana Naimatullah, who bagged second position, said mere reading and rotting of textbooks could not win top positions and one has to read other related books and hunt for general information.

Hura Masroor, who shared second position with Naimatullah, was of the view that English textbooks should be modified or be replaced. She wanted to become a chartered accountant.

Faiza Farooq, who secured third position, said departure of qualified persons after acquisition of education to other countries was not good. She wanted to become a computer engineer.