Karachi, Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Annual Examinations-2010 are set to begin on Friday (today), with the General Sciences assessment being the first evaluation to take place.
Despite the postponement of SSC exams, a number of contentious issues remain unresolved, sources told The News. The issuance of admit cards, re-allotment of examination centres as well as the choice of invigilators in various vigilance teams may blight aspirations for a transparent exam process this year as well, sources said.
On Wednesday, Board of Secondary Education, Karachi (BSEK) officials had told media personnel that exam forms of over 1,000 more students had been accepted by the Board. This number turned out to be an understated estimation, as about 2,000 admit cards were issued on Thursday.
“We could not count the actual quantity of forms received yesterday (Wednesday). When we started tabulation of these forms, we realised that the number of forms was in excess of 1,500, and went up to about 2,000,” Board officials told The News.
Sources however maintained that Board officials continued to accept exam forms on Thursday. Due formalities were completed the same day, and cards handed back as soon as possible. A Board official, when contacted around 8pm, said that only a few admit cards had to be collected by the candidates/schools, while the rest had already been handed out.
Interestingly, while the governor’s intervention on Tuesday was meant only for regular candidates of private and some government schools, the Board had barred private candidates on Wednesday from applying for admit cards. Sources told The News that many private candidates had submitted their forms as regular students registered in public and private sector schools, albeit with the help of the “mafia.”
The matter of issuance of admit cards is only half the story, sources said, claiming that the involvement of junior teachers as members of vigilance and super vigilance teams has irked senior teachers and other officers of the educational department.
Education Executive District Officer (EDO) Muhammad Ibrahim Kumbhar had sent suggested names of invigilators from his department to the BSEK, sources said, claiming that this list contains a number of controversial figures.
Sources cited the name of a man named Abdul Latif Mughal, who is simply a headmaster, but claims to be Education Deputy District Officer (Secondary and Higher Secondary, Male). Mughal had been removed as the assistant district officer (ADO) of Jamshed Town on charges of corruption, but he was nominated as a member of super vigilance team for this year’s exams.
Moreover, while 13 subject specialists have been assigned the responsibility for monitoring exam procedures across the city, head masters of various private schools are also entitled to act as members of vigilance teams.
Several of these principals either own or run these schools, sources said. This in turn breeds apprehensions over the transparency of the exams conducted, especially given the conflict of interest, sources said.
Meanwhile, a three-member committee has been constituted by BSEK Chairman Intizar Hussain Zaidi to probe the reasons for the delay in issuance of admit cards, a statement released by the BSEK on Thursday read. The committee, formed on the directives of the Sindh governor, will submit its recommendations by April 6, 2010 to the BSEK chairman.
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