KARACHI, March 17: The Committee of Chairmen of Educational Boards in Sindh may take up the issue of composite exams in its monthly deliberations scheduled to be held in the city on Saturday.
A source privy to the committee told Dawn that among other issues the educational boards’ body would discuss the issue pertaining to composite exams once again.
The boards have already sent their observations on the subject to their controlling authority and wanted not to touch upon the new plan of combined examinations of class IX and X as it entailed a lot of problems for students and parents and educationists as well, added the source saying that the committee in question would work out on a time frame for Class IX examinations, if any decision for restoration of the old system of yearly SSC exams was restored.
The meeting would also discuss the on ground development made so far in connection with the composite exams and conduct of Sindhi/Urdu salees exams.
In the meantime, students and parents in the city are waiting for government’s decision in favour of the old system of SSC exams. They say that at one stage the Sindh chief minister had also declared that there would be no composite but separate examinations for class IX and X students.
Experts fear that under the new system, students of low income group would have to abandon their education after middle classes now. The students of economically depressed families have been taking education along with their money earning ventures or jobs to help out their families, but the new system would surely not help them carrying out two jobs at a time, said a senior teacher.
It is said that there was likelihood that admissions to class IX and above would drop subsequently after the implementation of the composite examination system and there are also obvious chances of increase in use of unfair means in exams, as those finding it a burden to appear in 10-12 papers at a time would resort to use of unfair means for success in one go.
Experts said that time had still not gone out for reversal to the old system and conducting the Class IX exams in 2006. On a notice of six to eight weeks, the class IX students can be asked to appear in exams, added a member of the educational board, saying that the whole chunk of class IX students was a fresh one and has nothing to do with the class X exams scheduled to be held next month.
