KARACHI, Feb 18: The demand for an additional fee for the issuance of certificates of an HSC examination, 2000, by officials at the Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi, is causing concern among parents.

A group of parents on Tuesday claimed that HSC Humanities (regular) students' certificates had not been issued to colleges so far, and said they were shocked to learn from the board that they would have to pay an "urgent fee" of Rs200 if they needed delivery of certificates at the board.

They said they had been told that the certificates pertaining to the examination in questions were at present being issued to the science group students at colleges, while the arts group students were being asked to wait further as their certificates were still to be received from the board office.

Parents said board officials had informed them that if they urgently needed certificates and wanted to directly get them from the board office, they would have to deposit an urgent fee, otherwise they would have to wait for another six months.

They asked when the science group students were being delivered certificates at their respective colleges, why the arts students were being made to suffer. When in some cases arts group students approached the BIE, they were advised to pay Rs100 for urgent and Rs200 for most urgent delivery of certificates.

Describing as inappropriate the logic behind the demand for extra fees from students for the failure of the board, the concerned parents urged the BIE chairman and other high-ups to look into the matter and ensure justice and delivery of certificates to students concerned at the earliest.

Dawn's has learnt from investigations that the board has finalized the science group HSC 2000 certificates in bulk, and most of the certificates have been sent to colleges.

Colleges are not required to charge any fee from the students at the time of delivery of the certificates as the board had already collected the prescribed fee for the certificates, along with the examination fees, from the candidates.

The practice of issuing certificates to colleges was resumed in 1999. The system of sending certificates to candidates had been abolished in the late '70s, said a source in the board, adding that revival of the practice of certificate distribution was not an easy task as a number of colleges still showed lack of interest in the assignment.

In the case of private colleges, it was claimed that some of them resorted to charging an extra amount from students for the facility in question. Regarding the demand for an urgent or an additional fee from those seeking delivery of arts group certificates at the board office, it was said that the system of such charges had been adopted a few years back, but it was to be ascertained whether the decision had been taken by any official in his individual capacity or it had been adopted by the board.

When the attention of a senior BIE official was drawn to the alleged anomaly, he said the whole issue needed to be examined and any offhand observation or answer could not be given.

He said the certificates of the arts group students too were in the final stage of preparation and would be delivered to colleges in the shortest possible time.

However, he described as exaggerated the statement by a board official that the arts students' certificates could be delivered only after six months. In fact, he said, the whole process of the preparation and issuance of certificates had been advanced by two to three months this year.