KARACHI, April 29: Overcrowding of HSC candidates at some of the examination centres is becoming a source of concern, not only for duty staff but also for the students as well, sources in educational circles said.

Teachers said that the decision to hold HSC annual examination of Pre-Medical and Pre-Engineering groups in the same shift has once again caused overcrowding of candidates at some of the centres.

It was hard to arrange adequate sitting space and other amenities for so many candidates at a time, while on the other hand the possibilities of using unfair means or creating law and order situation had also increased, a senior professor of a college said.

"Under BIE's examination rules, one invigilator should be posted on every 20 candidates. However, due to the fact that some of the colleges are functioning short of teachers, deployment of adequate staff could not be ensured there, the professor added.

Students said that in the absence of college teachers as invigilators, the administrative staff of colleges or school teachers had been engaged for the purpose, which had also affected the standard of vigilance, undermining the smooth conduct of examinations.

A couple of candidates, taking examination at a government college in Saddar Town area, on Thursday said that they appeared in Urdu Paper-I in a hall where only two invigilators were available for 80 to 90 students. Consequently, they consumed a lot of time in distributing answer scripts and question papers, which deprived some candidates of seven to 12 minutes, as they were handed over the papers late and were not even compensated against the time lost, they added.

Some of the centres, where a large number of students were registered for the examinations on Thursday, in the first shift, included, Islamia Arts and Commerce College (882), Islamia Science College (858), Govt College for Men, Nazimabad (779), National College (532), D H College (604), Jamia Millia College (574), Sir Syed Girls college (789), Govt Girls Comprehensive School Block M (568), APWA College for Women (673), Khursheed Girls College (677), Govt College for Women, Korangi-4 (600), Govt College for Women, Saudabad (625).

Meanwhile, A BIE press release said that members of super vigilance committee visited various colleges on Thursday and expressed their satisfaction over the holding of examinations in a peaceful atmosphere, the control of UFMs and security measures taken at the centres.