LARKANA, Sept 3: A group of students observed a hunger strike here on Tuesday to protest against overcharging of the Secondary School Certificate (supplementary) examination fees by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education officials.

Speaking on the occasion, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz leader Athar Soomro said that the controller, BISE, violating the governor’s orders for allotting two per cent grace marks, was charging Rs400 per a case, whereas other boards were charging less than the amount.

The relaxation was meant to benefit around 1,450 students who had appeared in the Higher Secondary Certificate-II (pre-medical and pre-engineering) examinations from 1998 to 2003, he added.

Also, the BISE officials were charging Rs200 from the candidates as extra late fee that other boards were not, he said.

He alleged that around 350 students had been marked absent in the fresh examinations and their results had been withheld.

Mr Soomro said the protest would continue till the BISE management obeyed the orders of the governor.

When contacted, BISE controller Professor Rabnawaz Tunio denied the charges, saying that the board was charging Rs200 grace marks fee like other boards and the late fee was a routine matter.