• Moderation of marks to be done after scrutiny of answer copies
• CM orders removal of BIEK IT head for ‘incompetence’

KARACHI: After the fact-finding committee that was formed to probe into the alleged tampering with first-year results announced by the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) presented its report, caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar decided on Thursday to award 15 per cent extra marks to those first-year students who had applied for scrutiny, after a large numbers of students had been failed by the board.

The extra marks will be awarded to HSC Part-I students of pre-medical, pre-engineering and general science groups based on the recommendation of the fact-finding inquiry committee to overcome shortcomings observed in the official results announced by the BIEK.

Head of the inquiry committee Vice Chancellor of NED University Dr Sarosh Lodi told Dawn it would only be applicable to those who had applied for scrutiny of their papers and marks would be awarded to them on ‘linear proportion’ basis.

He added that over 7,000 candidates had applied for scrutiny.

The faculty subjects to be given 15 per cent marks include; mathematics 15 marks, physics/ statistics 12 marks, chemistry 12 marks, botany six marks and zoology six marks.

The CM has also ordered immediate removal of BIEK IT head Muhammad Shaheer Waqar after the committee found him incompetent as the IT sections of the BIEK under him were found to be in a dire state.

On Feb 3, Justice Baqar had formed a three-member committee to investigate the abrupt decline in passing percentages for first year students, who had been protesting for many weeks after the results were announced.

Political parties, particularly the Jamaat-i-Islami, had strongly raised the issue, calling the results ‘flawed’ and demanding a fair solution to the problem.

The committee, headed by NED VC Dr Lodi, included Executive Director of IBA Karachi Dr Akbar Zaidi and Secretary of Sindh HEC Moinuddin Siddiqui as members.

It presented its recommendations to the chief minister in a meeting held at CM House on Thursday evening.

After thorough discussions and deliberations, the chief minister approved the recommendations and directed the chairman of the BIEK to ensure their implementation.

The chairman of BIEK was directed to issue ‘notices of displeasure’ to the Controller of Examinations (present and the incumbent who conducted the HSC-I Examinations 2023), all deputy controllers, and IT managers as they were responsible for the conduct of examinations 2023 at the BIEK and for their failure to observe rules and regulations.

According to the fact-finding committee, the IT sections of the board are in a bad state in terms of safety, housekeeping and professional manners.

Therefore, the chief minister ordered the immediate removal of IT Head Muhammad Shaheer Waqar from the position as “he was not only incompetent, but also unreliable to hold this important position”.

The CM, on the recommendation of the committee, decided to moderate the announced results of HSC-1 pre-medical, pre-engineering and general science faculties to overcome shortcomings.

He directed the BIEK chairman to award 15 per cent marks to the students.

Recommendations

According to the fact-finding committee, examination paper pattern and marking scheme shall now onwards be made available before the commencement of the academic session which would remain the same for at least three years.

The number of assessment centres would be increased to at least 10 to facilitate centralised assessment and ensure consistency and uniformity in assessment.

The CM also ordered the BIEK to ensure the usage of Optical Mark Recognition for the assessment of MCQs to eliminate human error and reduce assessment time as well as in-house training of head examiners, deputy head examiners, co-examiners, factotum and invigilators.

Justice Baqar directed chairman of BIEK to ensure implementation of the recommendations and report to him.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2024