KARACHI: Long queues of private students were witnessed outside the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) office on Tuesday, the first day of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) part I and II exams.

“This never happens in the Lahore board. I think I’m going to take my family back to Lahore,” Shuja Gilani, standing in a queue for a third consecutive day for his twins’ admit cards for the part II exams spat disgustedly.

“We have just relocated to Karachi due to my new job here. And the kids are appearing privately, at least they are trying to. But from what I have seen here and the way everyone is being treated here, I no longer care about my job. The people are playing with the future of my children,” the frustrated father added.

“Who are these people being given the right to do that anyway? They cheat through the system throughout their own education career and bag positions to do nothing there. All they do is encourage the selling of a Rs40 form for Rs300. That’s why Sindh’s education system is hopeless and it shows!”

Rizwana Begum, a mother along with her son appearing privately for his matriculation this year, said that they had the admit card but with no mention of the centre and no date-sheet attached.

“He has not been given a roll number; we are confused what to do?” she said.

“I have my English paper today, and I will know about my centre only after getting my admit card,” said a class X student, Azeem Jamali, also standing in the queue.

“The paper is to begin at 9.30am and they have made us to wait outside the board office gates here since early morning. We are told that the gates shall open at 9am but even then we have to line up in front of the counters inside and it leaves very little time,” the student complained.

“Our entire year may go waste due to the board’s carelessness while handling us private students and all they’ll say in the end will be a ‘sorry’!” cried another panicked boy, Abdul Hafeez.

When confronted with the issues being faced by the students and their parents, BSEK chairman Fasihuddin Khan said that the people were obviously confused as it’s the first day of the exams.

“Today is for a science paper and none of the private candidates is a science student. Either they are lying to dramatise the situation or they are just confused. If they don’t understand anything, they should just ask,” he said.

“Frankly, they have to face delays when they themselves remember to submit their forms at the 11th hour,” he added.

But another worried woman, Mrs Javed, said that they have already spent some Rs2,500 trying to get the admit card etc. for her son.

“First they tell us to come back later, then they say that since we are late we have to pay a late fee. We weren’t late, they tell us to come later and when we do, they don’t even remember us!”

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2015

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