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KARACHI, Dec 2: The steering committee of the Sindh education department, which finalized the schedule for matric and intermediate annual examinations on Monday, remained indecisive on the modalities of class XI Information Technology paper.
The committee, which met with education secretary Nazar Hussain Mahar in the chair, decided that SSC and HSC annual examinations (theory) would begin on March 1 and April 22, respectively; while practical exams would be completed by April 30 and May 20, sources said.
In regard to compulsory IT subject examination at the intermediate level, the meeting failed to take any decision as relevant data were not available for the purpose, said the sources, adding that joint meetings of EDOs (education), principals of colleges and heads of educational boards would be held this month, while the steering committee would again meet by Jan 25.
The fate of about 90,000 students, who were enrolled for the IT subject introduced in colleges in 2001 and who were required to pay Rs1,500 each for the two-year education, still hangs in the balance.
Though authorities are adamant to conduct teaching and examination in the subject, many colleges and higher secondary schools in the province are yet to be provided with faculty and equipment.
It was pointed out in the meeting that with the exception of one, most of the educational boards were not in a position to conduct the examination in the pattern of other subjects.
In view of the hasty implementation of the IT course and shortage of practical facilities, the joint body of educational boards had decided last year to hold the examination in the subject — comprising 60 marks for theory and 40 for practicals — in the year 2003. Most of the educational boards and teaching staff in colleges are not satisfied with the pace of IT development and feel that the matter should be given a second thought.
The education department and the EDOs were supposed to ensure the availability of necessary facilities for the IT course, but they did not even bother to provide the related information to the educational boards despite requests, said one source who attended the meeting.
One of the boards chairmen observed that problems emerged as the educational boards were bound to follow a uniform policy in regard to design and pattern of the IT exam question paper, its assessment and method of marking. In the existing situation, however, the boards are not in a position to take a unanimous decision on the issue as situation differed from board to board, he added.
Official sources said that regarding implementation of compulsory computer literacy programme from the current session, it was resolved that as computer had become a day-to-day affair of the modern world it was the need of the hour to make computer education available for the youths. All the boards are going to discuss as how to conduct the examination by arranging meetings with the EDOs and principals of colleges, said the sources, adding that compulsory computer examination would be held as scheduled.
The steering committee discussed implementation of 75 per cent compulsory attendance in colleges, schedule of summer and winter vacations, declaration of results, co-curricular activities and sports budget of the boards.
It was decided that annual examinations up to class VIII would be completed by Feb 15, while results would be declared by March 1. The examinations would commence in government schools on Feb 1.
It was also resolved that results of SSC examinations should be declared by July 31, along with mark sheets; pre-medical exam results would be announced by Aug 15 and that of pre-engineering by Aug 25.
VACATIONS: The meeting decided that winter vacation would be observed from Dec 23 to Jan 1, while summer vacation would be from June 1 to July 31.
The meeting reiterated its resolve to strictly implement attendance rule in educational institutions. It said that principals and board/university authorities before accepting examination forms would ensure that 75 per cent attendance criterion was met by students.
The cases of non-compliance should be communicated to the EDOs (education), who would take action according to rules. It was learnt that during the current session, about 30 government institutions’ heads in the city, in addition to those in the private sector, had failed to send monthly attendance reports to the BIE, Karachi.
On a report that college teachers did not turn up in an adequate number for assessment of scripts, which delayed the announcement of exam results, the boards were asked to send the names of all such teachers to the education department so that it could be reflected in their annual confidential reports.
It was also decided that scout fee should be recovered at the rate of Rs10 from each student from session 2002-2003, while the amount thus collected would be distributed among girls guide (25 per cent) and boy scouts (75 per cent).
All the educational boards would spend 75 per cent of the sports budget on sports activities at district and inter collegiate levels, while 25 of the budget would be spent on development of permanent sports facilities in schools or colleges.
The timing for double-shift schools on Friday would be from 8am to 12 noon and from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.
