May 23, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 17, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 22: Thousands of students appearing in the ongoing Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) FA/FSc examinations in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) have been hit hard by loadshedding as their examination halls remain without electricity making them vulnerable to scorching heat.

There are reports of students succumbing to heat while many have complained of being unable to fully attempt the papers in the suffocating examination halls where lights and fans remain inoperative and even the answer sheets are drenched in sweat flowing down the hands of the students.

Daytime temperature in the capital is hovering around 35 degrees centigrade. But, the 2 to 5pm paper timings for the HSSC examination of the federal government is being considered the worst keeping in view the intensity of the heat.

“Reaching the examination hall in a public transport at noon sucks all your energy out. And, when you enter the examination hall and there is no electricity it really hurts,” Kamal Ahmed Khan, an FSc pre-engineering candidate told Dawn on phone.

Students are already complaining about having sleepless nights and being unable to prepare well according to their time tables due to frequent blackouts. Students hailing from Rawalpindi have been hit even harder as loadshedding hours in the sister city are even more frequent than Islamabad.

Some parents also telephoned Dawn offices on Wednesday and complained of stomach problems and sleep disorder caused to their children by the pressure of examinations coupled with the tension of loadshedding.

Things are getting so nasty that the head of the inspection team of the federal board, Prof Qasim Masood, has appealed to the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) to show mercy to the students by ensuring availability of electricity during the examination hours. During the inspection he found majority of the examination halls without electricity.

“It is terrible to see these young souls suffering and drenched in sweat,” Mr Masood told Dawn.

He wondered how much these students would be able to perform under such intense heat and in suffocating environments when the thinking process came to a standstill and the heart started sinking, Mr Masood said.

He said most of the students consumed too much water due to intense heat and had to go several times to the washrooms. The students already suffered in the public transports while reaching the examination halls.

“I fear that the students may not be able to deliver their best in such conditions,” Mr Masood said.

In response to a question, he said, there were hundreds of examinations halls in the ICT region and wherever he went he saw students complaining about the absence of power.

He said girl students had to suffer a lot. Many college-going girls hailing from conservative families were observing Purdah (veil) and were not allowed to reveal their faces even inside the examination halls. Such, students faced the worst, as they also wore Burqa, Chadar or other forms of veil that added to the body temperature further.

He said if these students were not being provided examination halls with air conditioners, at least they should be allowed to attempt their papers under a fan.

Prof Masood said he had also called on FBISE Chairman Shamshad Akhtar and Controller Examination Mohammad Muzaffar and briefed them about the transparency and security at all the examination halls. He said the examination process was going on smoothly except the issue of the unavailability of electricity.

He said the Education Joint Action Committee Islamabad and the F.G. College Teachers Association Islamabad had ensured full cooperation with the federal board in ensuring holding of transparent FA/FSc examinations, but Iesco should also cooperate by showing mercy to the students.