RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) on Monday suspended examination staff in two examination centres, Chaun Syedan Shah and Nurpur in Chakwal, for involvement in cheating during the 9th grade’s maths annual exam.

BISE Rawalpindi Spokesman Arslan Cheema said BISE Rawalpindi Chairman Muhammad Adnan Khan suspended officials over alleged involvement in cheating and replaced them immediately.

An FIR had also been lodged against the examination staff of the said centres. In Nurpur, the assistant commissioner caught the exam officials red-handed while they were solving the mathematics objective paper on the blackboard.

BISE Chairman Khan, in connection with the 9th first annual examination 2024, visited Government Graduate College Chaun Syedan Shah, Government Boys and Girls Higher Secondary School Basharat, Government Boys and Girls Higher Secondary School Sehgalabad, and Government Boys and Girls High School in Khanpur.

Daily monitoring

Speaking after the visit, he said all district administrations were monitoring the examination centres on a daily basis.

On the other hand, Commissioner Aamir Khattak directed the deputy commissioners, additional deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners and divisional heads to visit the examination centres in their jurisdiction.

He said that the arrangements at the examination centres should be reviewed and the working of the supervising staff should also be checked. “By ensuring the transparency of examinations, we can improve our quality of education,” he said.

He directed the district administration to fully support the education boards in conducting transparent examinations and if any irregularity was reported, immediate action should be taken.

“We hope that every student can enter the examination hall with the confidence that no one will be allowed to steal their hard work through cheating,” he said.

Following the instructions of the commissioner, the Chakwal deputy commissioner filed an FIR against the staff of Government Boys High School Nurpur for their alleged involvement in cheating.

According to the details, an FIR was registered against the clerk, supervisor, superintendent and others who were “involved in helping students solve the objective paper of mathematics in Room No.3”.

The Rawalpindi commissioner directed that every step should be taken to rid the examination centres of the ‘cheating mafia’.

Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema, the Education CEO, and the colleges’ director attended the meeting in person while the deputy commissioners of Attock, Jhelum, Murree, and Chakwal participated in the meeting held at Commissioner Office Rawalpindi through video link.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2024