SAHIWAL: The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) is pushing hard to clear the backlog of 1,45,000 pending matric/intermediate certificates that it has yet to issue to the candidates who passed the examinations from 2015 to 2017.

The board issued 1,57,615 matric/intermediate certificates to passing candidates who appeared in the examinations from its inception in Year 2012 to 2014.

BISE Sahiwal Chairman Dr Zulfikar Ali told Dawn that board had paid Rs50m to the Pakistan Printing Press, Karachi for printing of 500,000 certificates. He said the board had placed order of printing another 200,000 certificates by paying Rs20m to the printing press to clear backlog of 2015 to 2017.

“The board is also working to clear the backlog of remaining certificates till Oct 2019,” he added.

The according to details, the PML-N government had declared Sahiwal as the 9th division of Punjab in 2010. With emergence of new division, comprising three districts of Pakpattan, Sahiwal and Okara, the new BISE was required. Before the establishment of the BISE in Sahiwal in 2012, the students of the abovementioned three districts used to appear in the exams conducted by either Lahore or Multan board.

The BISE Sahiwal had started its operation in the rented premises of the Government Post Graduate College, Sahiwal and despite the passage of six years it is still functioning in the same building in absence of its own building.

Dr Fida Hussain, the controller, said since 2012 more than 3,75,000 students passed the 24 matric/intermediate examinations organised by the board but until 2016, the board had no capacity to grant certificates to the passing candidates.

It was in 2016 that the board first time received certificates from the Pakistan Printing Press, Karachi and got printed 3,00,000 certificates by paying around Rs30m.

Umair Khan, assistant controller Secrecy Branch, said more than 2,10,000 candidates had successfully passed their matric/intermediate examinations until 2016 but the board had not issued them certificates.

“Each year, around 50,000 additional candidates are added up in the backlog and to clear the backlog, the board established a “Certificate Cell” in collaboration with computer and tabulation sections for immediate dispersing of certificates,” he added.

More than 10 employees of the board are working in double shifts to clear the backlog. The board has reportedly covered candidates until 2014 and now it is working to clear the backlog until 2017.

The BISE chairman said only two complaints were filed with Pakistan Citizen Portal wherein the complaints were made against the delay in issuance of certificates.

“The complainants were told to apply for certificate on an urgent basis so that board could clear their certificates,” he said while responding to a question regarding complaints.

Picture:

The BISE employees are working in the double shift at ‘certificate cell’ for clearing backlog of certificates.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2019