Scrutiny committee set up to recheck SSC exam papers

Published August 4, 2015
UNHAPPY with their SSC part-II results, students with their parents gather to protest at the office of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi on Monday.—Fahim Siddiqi / White Star
UNHAPPY with their SSC part-II results, students with their parents gather to protest at the office of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi on Monday.—Fahim Siddiqi / White Star

KARACHI: The chairman of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK), Prof Anwar Ahmed Zai, on Monday set up a scrutiny committee to look into students’ issues with the results of this year’s examinations.

The BSEK, when announcing the results of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) part-II on July 30, had said that they were proud to be doing so two weeks ahead of the deadline given by the steering committee of the Directorate of Education. He thanked his staff, especially BSEK Controller of Examinations Noman Ahsan and Secretary Hoor Mazhar for supporting him and working with him even during the Eid holidays to achieve this. He also issued a challenge to anyone who thought that their results were unfair.

And the challenge was accepted almost immediately when several students who had failed or had been marked absent came to protest at the board office the very next day, on July 31. As it was Friday, they went away vowing to return in full force on Monday, which they did.

Many of the students were shocked to find out that they had been marked absent on papers they had appeared for. Others were crying after finding out that they had failed even though they were expecting good marks. The crowd pelted the building with stones and shouted slogans against the board office and its staff.

“Haste makes waste. They were in such a hurry to announce the results that they made huge mistakes,” complained a girl student who was marked absent though she had appeared for all her papers.

The board is in the process of computerising all its systems and this year it was said that all the results, including those of failed students, would be uploaded on the internet. But many students couldn’t find their results on the internet. Others didn’t even have computers or access to the internet.

These were the first results announcements by the BSEK after Prof Ahmed Zai’s taking over as chairman.

The board chairman has constituted a committee comprising a head examiner, deputy examiner and senior teachers, who will be accepting scrutiny forms for any subject that a student may want to get rechecked.

Prof Zai said the scrutiny took 40 days, but keeping the student’s urgency in getting it done before college admissions, they would be doing it in five days.

The students must submit the scrutiny forms which are available at the National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank and Askari Bank booths at the board office. All they need to do is attach a copy of their admit card with it.

Prof Zai met the protesting students to hear out their problems but said that even though he would help them in getting their papers rechecked, he would not be pressured into passing the ones who had failed their exams.

He added that around 10 educational institutions still had not submitted their physics practical books to the board, which had affected the results of some 800 students.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2015

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