RAWALPINDI: The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Rawalpindi has cancelled two papers of English and Physics and announced new dates after reports surfaced on social media that the papers had been leaked.

Parents of the students, who appeared in the secondary school certificate (SSC) examination, expressed their resentments and said students’ time was being wasted. Instead of improving the system, the board has decided to take the exams afresh, they added.

However, BISE spokesman Arslan Cheema told Dawn that the papers were leaked allegedly on social media before the start of the exams and the board canceled the papers and issued new schedules.

He said the exams were held in two groups as half of the students had appeared in the morning while the rest in the evening. However, the papers were rescheduled for the second group only, he added. He said the English paper would be held on April 4 and Physics on April 5.

Mohammad Sagheer said his daughter was in shock to go through the process of examination once again. “It is not the fault of the students but they have to make the preparations again for the exam,” he said.

“My daughter appeared in the examination and the students have now been informed that the paper would be taken again. It has disturbed the students who had to revise the books to prepare for the exam again,” he said.

Noman Haider, the father of a student at Satellite Town, said the board was running without a chairman and the commissioner was looking after its affairs as the acting chairman. As a result, the officials of the board did not pay attention to the problems of the students.

“My son and a niece appeared in the examinations and they are disturbed after the rescheduling of the paper. The paper of Physics was held on March 3 and English on March 5 but after appearing in the examination, the students are reluctant to take the examination again,” he said.

The BISE spokesman said some people had pointed out that the papers were leaked on the social media but they failed to produce any evidence. “But to ensure transparency, we decided to reschedule the papers,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2018