KARACHI, June 15: The Aga Khan University Examination Board (AKUEB) has registered so far about 100 schools throughout the country for its first examination, which would be held in line with the national curriculum and syllabi, approved by the federal government. Speaking at a workshop for journalists on Wednesday, the president of the Aga Khan University, Shams Kassim Lakha, said that AKUEB, a federal education board, was progressing as per its schedule under the provisions of an ordinance promulgated by the President in November 2002, and as per schedule its first examination for class IX students would be held in April, 2006.

He said that students would largely be coming for Board’s examination from private schools through out the country, and government schools which were under the control of the Federal government, including Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Federally Administered Northern Areas. “We may include the government run schools in the provinces in the scope of examinations, after seeking necessary permission from relevant provincial governments,” he added.

Replying to questions, he said that the level of opposition and misunderstandings on AKUEB had come down and it was now confined to one or two parties or groups. “We are trying to convince our opponents through dialogue that the whole purpose establishing the Board was to bring about the academic improvement and to streamline and improve the examination system,” he added, and hoped that AKUEB could become a role model in the years to come.

He said that board would be a separate entity from the AKU and its affairs would be run by a board of directors comprising representatives from government and private sectors. The composition of the board was in the final stage and it is likely that the first meeting of directors would be held in a month or so, he added.

He said that there was no coercing of schools for affiliation with the board and any school fulfilling the criteria of the board may decide to come for affiliation, as it would be entirely voluntary. “We have received requests for affiliation from about 200 schools, but only 50 per cent, majority coming outside Sindh, had been accorded, while the rest failed to meet the some basic academic and training criteria of the Board,” he informed the newsmen.

Talking about AKUEB initiatives, the director of the board, Dr Thomas Christie, said that a good number of teachers were being trained with the objectives to make them more interactive with students and develop the true understanding of the AKUEB system of examination.

He said that the board would also be introducing the system of e-marking for assessing the answer scripts of the candidates in the examinations, which would be a new addition in the history of public examinations in the region as well. The new marking system would eliminate all possibilities of changing the evaluation of the performance of the candidates, he claimed.