15 May 2004	Saturday	24 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, May 14: The HSC annual examinations for Science and Commerce group candidates were held in a peaceful manner on Friday, the Board of Intermediate Education's examination controller said.

The controller, Prof Asif Pasha, said that the overall attendance at the centres remained normal, while at some centres the candidates reporting late where also allowed to appear in the examinations, in view of the transport problem.

It was learnt that the examinations, at least, at two centres started 15 to 30 minutes behind the schedule, as the centre control officer could not reach in time.

As soon as the centre superintendent from the S M Arts College and the Govt Degree College, Lyari, informed the board that question papers had not been received by them, we sent two separate officers with question papers to the two colleges, where the examination commenced a little behind the notified time, the BIE controller said.

However, due to the thin transport, the candidates and examination staff had to face problems in reaching their respective examination centres, sources in educational circles said.

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES: Teaching activities remained suspended at most of the educational institutions in the city. Attendance of students at majority of the government and private schools was negligible, sources said.

Work at many of the educational offices also got affected due to transport problem and non availability of staff.

The examinations at the University of Karachi were held as per schedule in the morning and evening shifts.

A source at the NED University of Engineering and Technology said that attendance of students at the varsity was thin, while a couple of classes were also not held, despite the fact that the varsity had plied buses for residential areas according to its routine on Friday.