RAWALPINDI: Mismanagement by the Punjab Education Commission (PEC) caused problems for students taking class five exams again on Thursday, despite claims by the commission that last year’s mismanagement would not be repeated. The PEC changed the exam schedule last minute for the second time in one week.

In many examination centres in the Rawalpindi District, there were not enough question papers and teachers had to make runs to photocopiers to make more copies.

Two exams were scheduled for Thursday, Urdu at 11am and Islamiat at 2pm. Students reached their centres at 11am but the Urdu exam did not start until 2pm and the Islamiat exam was rescheduled for March 3.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the PEC postponed the English examination for grade five students across the province at the last minute. On Wednesday, the PEC conducted the English examination instead of the scheduled Urdu exam and announced that the Urdu exam would be taken with Islamiat on Thursday. When students arrived on Thursday, they were given another surprise and told that the Islamiat exam would now be taken on March 3

On Tuesday, when PEC at postponed the English exam last minute, the news of the postponed exam reached some parents in urban areas. But in most rural areas, young students made their way to the examination centres on the cold and rainy morning only to find out that the exam had been postponed.

Punjab Teacher Union (PTU) Rawalpindi Chapter and Private Schools Association strongly criticised the PEC officials for causing inconvenience to students.

“In hilly areas such as Murree and Kotli Sattian, hundreds of students made their way through the snow to reach examination centres,” said Imtiaz Abbasi, a PTU representative.

Mr Abbasi said that last year, the PEC’s mismanagement resulted in several problems but the government failed to take action against the department.

Echoing the views expressed by the PTU representative, in a press release, Private Schools Association demanded that the Punjab government immediately shut down the PEC. The association also said that the PEC has failed to conduct examinations in a transparent manner.

“The PEC is jeopardising the students’ future, therefore, we request the government to immediately ban it,” said Ibrar Ahmed Khan, President Private School Association.

Last year the PEC failed thousands of students of Rawalpindi district, who were in good academic standing, in class five examinations. The results were later revised following protests by teachers.

According to the results announced on March 31, 2014 only 14 per cent students had passed the examination. After the mistake was rectified, 46 per cent candidates had passed. Despite repeated attempts, EDO Education Qazi Zahoorul Haq could not be reached for his comments.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2015

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