KARACHI, March 28: Ignoring a decision of the steering committee of the provincial education department, the Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi, has decided to conduct HSC Annual Examinations-2004 from April 28.

The steering committee in its meeting on Jan 18, while approving the dates pertaining to different exams in the province, had decided that HSC (theory) exams would be held by all the intermediate education boards simultaneously from April 20.

Sources said that no board, except BIE Karachi, had any reservation in regard to exam dates. The BIEK officials only recently have come up with the request that dates should be refixed as they had got a huge number of candidates for exams, but no permission was accorded to them. The decision of the steering committee could be reviewed only by the committee and no other authority could allow any deviation from the schedule.

However, the BIE Karachi on March 27 issued a press release, stating that HSC annual examinations 2004 would commence from April 28. It said that exams of premedical and pre- engineering, science general and home economics would be held in the morning shift and commerce exams in the evening shift.

A senior official said that there was some confusion over the schedule from the very beginning. However, he added, the secretary education had recently accorded BIEK the permission to hold the examination from April 28.