KARACHI, March 31: The Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi, will hold its annual science exhibition on April 2 and 3.

Speaking at a press conference, the chairman of the Board, Prof Syed Iftikhar Hussain Zaidi, said the 6th inter-collegiate and 3rd inter-board science exhibition, organized by the BIE’s science forum, at the Dewa Academy, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, was aimed to introduce valuable inventions, ideas and projects by college students belonging to the city and other colleges of the province.

He said that projects already selected by a panel of judges would be put on display while as a token of appreciation cash prizes, shields and certificates would be awarded to the students for their outstanding projects as selected by a panel, comprising noted persons of relevant fields.

There would be one running trophy for the winner college and one for the winner board.

He said that the BIE wanted to continue with the science exhibition idea as it understood that if the efforts by college students were taken into consideration and rightly placed, a day of meaningful and big inventions would also emerge out of the initiative.

“We must establish a system for registration and acknowledgment of talents and projecting different model and ideas presented by young scientists,” he said, adding that at present the BIE was spending about Rs0.3 million every year on exhibition and the amount could be enhanced in case of positive results.

The convener of the science forum, Prof Arif Rizvi, said about 400 students from 45 institutions would jointly set up stalls presenting about 350 projects in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Computer Science. “Like the previous years, we wanted to hold the exhibition at the Expo Centre in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, but in view of the cold-shoulder attitude of the EPB we had to drop the idea as the BIE was not in a position to pay about Rs0.35 million to EPB,” he added.

Referring to an announcement of the city Nazim last year, one of the speakers said that the BIE had once again initiated correspondence with the city government for the acquisition of a plot for developing an exhibition site and a science museum.

The secretary of the Board, Prof Abdul Zaheer Paras, Prof Zia Fasih and Mohammad Rafiq Ahmad of the BIE also spoke and highlighted different aspects of the annual feature.

Dr Mohammad Iqbal Chaudhry, the acting director of the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, would inaugurate the exhibition on April 2, while Sindh Minister for Excise and Taxation Abdul Rauf Siddiqui would be the chief guest on the concluding day on April 3.