A LARGE number of parents get their children enrolled in O and A levels because of the rigorous academic process and transparent examination system. They believe that their children’s hard labour will be rewarded in a just manner, and they would not need to pay hefty amounts to buy grades. They pay exorbitant tuition fee to prepare their children for exams, but, today, they stand confused in the face of frequent paper leaks that have shattered their confidence in the Cambridge exam system.

Has the Cambridge exam system also become a part of Pakistani social system where the powerful can buy whatever they want; in this case, the question papers? Are the Cambridge system’s checks in Pakistan so weak that the paper-leak mafia can jeopardise the whole process and make millions out of it?

Whatever the case may be, it is ulti-mately the parents whose hard-earned money goes down the drain, and whose efforts to keep their children away from cheating are rendered futile. If such an expensive examination system gets hi-jacked, why do we blame our own board exams where corruption is rife? After all, they are a part of our social system.

Kamran Akhtar Siddiqui
Sukkur

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2026