KARACHI, Nov 20: The Board of Intermediate Education would announce the results of Information Technology paper, taken by 4,000 candidates, six months after holding of the examination, on Friday.

The IT paper was held as part of the HSC annual examinations for regular students of colleges for the first time on two different dates in the months of May and June this year.

The BIE, which has announced the results of all other faculties except that of IT (Optional), would issue an additional certificate to the successful candidates, registering their appearance in the examination, without reflecting marks, sources in the board said.

IT was introduced as compulsory subject at intermediate level in Sindh colleges in 2001, but the teaching and training facilities for the subject had been found unsatisfactory during the last two years, they said.

The education authorities, at the eleventh hour announced that IT would be treated as optional subject and not as a compulsory subject in the examination.

Earlier, the candidates in question, who had already paid Rs1,000 and Rs500 in 2001 and 2002, respectively, as IT fees, remained confused about the fate of the subject.

The BIE, like other educational boards of the province, had invited separate application from students seeking to appear in IT optional examination. Responding to BIE invitation, about 4,000 students of intermediate, second year, submitted applications either at the BIE office or examination centres, where they took other HSC papers.

The board had received 2,126 applications regarding IT examination from Science group candidates, while it received 912 and 993 applications in the faculties of Commerce and Humanities respectively. However, in addition to those who had submitted applications to the board, a good number of students turned up at centres designated for IT paper on the day of examination, ie May 24 and June 19, for taking the examinations and were allowed in view of their enthusiasm, a source added.

A senior official of the board, talking to Dawn on Thursday said that the IT results were delayed in view of its lesser significance for candidates, who needed the main result of the HSC first. The examinations were held in two portions, ie theory and practical, and the board had ensured the assessment of students’ papers by competent examiners, engaged from private as well as government colleges, he added.

While informing that results were being given final touches, the official maintained that those would be announced on Friday around 11am. Now, we have developed the capacity for conducting IT examinations and if the government directed, the examinations would be conducted in coming years as well, the official replied to a question.