PESHAWAR, Sept 19: The alleged failure of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) in providing syllabi to students has been adversely affecting their studies, it is learnt.

The BISE blamed the NWFP Textbook Board, the body which prepares the courses for the problem.

“We have not received any course outlines from the textbook board, so how can we make the syllabi,” a BISE official said. The courses are set by the Curriculum Wing of the Ministry of Education in Islamabad, which then circulates it to the textbook boards in the provinces, he said.

Since 1983, the textbook board has not been sending the courses to the BISE and officials prepared the syllabus on the basis of input received from schools.

During the last two years, many changes were made in the courses, the official said.

“We prepared the syllabus from courses we received from schools in 2003-04. Also, in 2007 there was another change in courses, but since we did not get the new courses, the syllabi for matriculation and intermediate students could not be prepared,” the official said. He said that regular students were taught the new courses at schools and colleges, but those appearing in private capacity suffered the most. Sources said that despite several reminders to the textbook board and the curriculum wing of the education ministry, the BISE did not get the new courses.

They said that teachers and students were also facing problems in preparation of examination papers. “Quite often, students complain that out-of-course papers were given in the exams,” they said.