January 05, 2009	Monday	Muharram 07, 1430

PESHAWAR, Jan 4: The government has decided to purge the boards of intermediate and secondary education of the ‘spoilers’ entrenched in the teachers and employees’ associations.

“We have undeniable proofs that the employees of educational boards are involved in malpractices in examinations in collaborations with the teacher associations,” said sources at the education department.

They said that the teacher associations in connivance with the examination conduct section of the eight boards of intermediate and secondary examination (BISE) hired services of certain teachers in each examination.

“From the past several years, this practice had adversely affected the transparency and standard of examinations in NWFP. Associations of teachers and board employees are beneficiaries of this unlawful practice,” they added.

About 200,000 students appear in SSC and 150,000 in intermediate examinations under Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Malakand, Mardan, Abbottabad and Swat boards every year. Majority of the intelligent students suffer because of the rampant cheating at examination halls by the blue-eyed students.

“Now, we are planning to declare the associations in BISEs illegal, because these are unregistered,” sources said, adding that in the next phase, the teacher associations would be banned. Most of the teacher associations have nothing to do with the education and quality of education; instead they have become propaganda wings of political parties, responsible for the destruction of academic atmosphere at the educational institutions.

“The so-called patriarchs of the teacher associations roam around offices of their respective boards almost on daily basis without taking leave from their schools,” they said. According to sources, some of the associations’ leaders do issue statements to newspapers to pressurise the board officials.

Sources said that one teacher was enough to supervise 40 students at an examination hall. If the teachers were honest they could make the exercise fruitful, they added.

They said that most of the associations were illegal and unregistered and a summary regarding its dismantling would be sent to the law department for vetting. Not this but the summary would also include suggestion to make the services of the employees of the BISEs transferable within boards.

“Now, the boards’ employees are not transferable which has emboldened them. Chairmen of the boards are unable to take action against them. Once their service is made transferable, then chairmen would be authorised to recommend their transfers to the government on the basis of corruption and malpractices,” sources added.

Before this, the executive district officers (EDOs), principals and headmasters of the schools would be asked to recommend the names of honest teachers to the boards to award them examination duties, sources said, adding that the principals and headmasters know their teachers very well and they can be of immense help in this regard.

“We are also considering another plan to put brakes on cheating in the examination hall. A computerised draw would be conducted from the list to be provided by the principals and headmasters to select teachers for the annual and supplementary examination of the SSC and Intermediate on rotation basis. Novel ways to stop cheating are being applied in the SSC examination scheduled for March 17 and intermediate on April 28,” sources added. The ANP-led government had given the department a free hand to cope with the problem of cheating, they said.

Letters had already been dispatched to schools and colleges in NWFP and tribal areas to furnish the names of teachers of integrity to the BISEs, they said and added that the government was also considering to enhance the fee of the teachers for examination duties.

The employees of the BISEs, they said, would also be asked to move files and do official work through proper channel with a view to bring all affairs into the notice of high-up. A system of punishment and rewards is also in pipeline the BISEs.

“It is 100 per cent true now that the BISEs’ staff sell examination duties to certain teachers, who then earn by receiving bribes from the students and allowing them cheating,” they added.