The matriculation board exams for the curriculum year 2006-2007 are scheduled for April which is two months away. But the Class Nine students are still not sure whether they will be taking their exams this year or sitting for the ‘composite exams’ next year. The predicament of the Class Nine students – who number 150,000 in Karachi alone and about 250,000 in all of Sindh – is distressing. They fear that they might suffer the same fate as last year’s ninth class students who were also kept in limbo regarding their exam schedule when the same debate was raging fiercely. In the end, since a decision could not be reached because of strong opposition by parents, schools and academic bodies, the previous Class Nine students were told in June/July to sit for the belated Class Nine exams in a month’s time. Subsequently their practical exams stretched into the next curriculum year and they are now facing difficulties preparing for the Class Ten exams because of so much wasted time.

The arbitrary decision taken by the Federal Minister for Education, Javed Qazi and supported by the Sindh Minister for Education, Hamida Khuhro, has left many observers following the debate on composite exams rather baffled. The idea was first floated sometime in 2005 and again in July 2006 and a decision taken at a joint meeting between the federal and provincial education ministers. What is mystifying is that the decision of holding composite exams was not the result of extended consultations with academicians or educationists at any point. In fact the ad-hoc decision was and is still strongly opposed on all fronts by other members of the ruling coalition as well as by the opposition parties. Even more bewildering is the fact that while the Sindh Chief Minister is opposed to the idea, the education minister in his cabinet is feverishly trying to get the decision turned into a policy.

The pressure and stress right now is on no less than 250,000 students and their families. Besides, the Private Schools Management Association; the Sindh University; Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association and the City Council (opposition and government representatives included) have taken a stand against the composite exams decision. But both education ministers are still insistent on changing the existing policy to one of combined examinations for Classes Nine and Ten in the matric system, i.e. the exam is to be taken following completion of Class Ten studies. While the arguments given by detractors are sound, no concrete reason has as yet come to light regarding the change in policy as campaigned by the education ministry.

First of all, the federal education ministry, is not empowered (as per the spirit of the 1973 Constitution) to involve itself in the methodology of implementing educational procedures. The reason is simple. It violates/infringes on provincial autonomy. As the Sindh Minister for Planning and Development Mr Shoaib Bokhari, has pointed out, the interference by the Centre in this case particularly goes against President Musharraf’s stand on devolution of power to the grassroots level which he asserted is ‘the destiny of Pakistan’. The President has categorically stated that “…any person trying to deviate from that course should be held as a culprit in the history and in the eyes of the Pakistani nation.” So why is the Centre at this point so involved in changing education policies which the provinces should be deciding at their own discretion taking into account the merit and justification of each policy separately?

This brings us to the main argument. What IS the merit and justification of the sudden policy of composite exams as a course of action for matric students? If a bi-annual exam system was being implemented one would understand that the idea was to keep students on their toes and involved in their academics throughout the two-year stint of matriculation. But in this case, it leaves the students to their own devices for two years, which, teachers predict, is bound to give poorer results.

And why are the matric students particularly being targeted for this regressive policy? If this policy is adopted three concurrent exam systems will come into play. One is following the existing system managed by the AKU private board which will take its first exams this year; the second is the Cambridge/Oxford system of exams and third is the under discussion composite exam policy for the Secondary School Certificate.

When the controversy regarding legitimacy to be given to the private board was rife, critics had argued that the government should not allow this parallel system to run because it will create a further class distinction between the private board matriculates and the government matriculates. But the government went ahead and allowed he private board to be formed stating that it will raise the standard of education. Now, in a move which is NOT in unison with the system of the private board exams, the SSC students are being further removed from the other systems. Where is the logic? The pressure applied by the Federal Minister for Education, Mr Javed Qazi, reluctantly prompts one to look into his credentials as an educationist and whether his scheme has an institutional backing or simply whimsical. He is a former ISI chief and former railways minister (his transfer from the railways ministry to the education ministry came right after the brouhaha concerning financial irregularities in the purchase of locomotives from China). And most recently he made news while discussing the inclusion of Quranic studies for Classes Three and Four students on a local television channel where he was heard stating to the effect that there were 40 siparas in the Holy Quran!

One can’t help but lament that because of unsubstantiated reasons of a minority group and the inability to concur with the rational majority, the immediate future of over two hundred and fifty thousand Class Nine students hangs in the balance. For the sake of the present Class Nine students, one hopes that the composite exam issue is shelved in good time to give them sufficient opportunity to study.