Nearly 400,000 students complain of overcrowding, power outages and cheating.
Jacob Lines Examination Center of Higher Secondary School for Girls in Karachi. PHOTO: JALAL QURESHI/FILE
KARACHI:
The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) annual examinations for Classes IX and
The exams were conducted in two shifts under strict security measures, while 51 vigilance teams were deployed to combat cheating. According to BSEK, paper distribution was monitored through a control room and special measures were taken to ensure transparency, including monitoring through video calls and WhatsApp groups. Section 144 has also been imposed around exam centers.
In the morning shift, Class X students reported for computer science, while general science took place in the afternoon. Each article lasted three hours.
However, complaints about poor management and lack of facilities have surfaced at several centers. Problems such as lack of furniture, non-functional fans and power outages were reported, forcing candidates to sit in difficult conditions. In some centers, students were reportedly forced to sit on mats due to inadequate seating arrangements.
At a government boys’ secondary school in Malir, students complained of extreme heat due to non-functional fans, while power outages were also reported in several areas despite demands for uninterrupted electricity supply.
Reports of irregularities have also emerged from different centers. At Government Boys’ Secondary School No. 1 PECHS, multiple incidents of alleged cheating were reported, while during a search operation, a student was found carrying a dagger as well as cheating materials, raising serious concerns over security arrangements at examination centers.
On the occasion, BSEK President Ghulam Hussain Soho, while visiting a center of Pilot Girls Secondary School, Nazimabad, said that the examinations were being held peacefully and the arrangements were satisfactory. He said surveillance was being carried out by the control room and vigilance teams were actively working at the centers.
However, he acknowledged problems such as limited availability of centers in public schools and lack of furniture, while asserting that basic facilities, including electricity and water, were available in all centers.
Director Secondary Education Mirza Arshad Baig, however, disagreed with the board’s stand, saying the exam centers are finalized after ground verification by the board teams. He said in several cases students were being accommodated beyond capacity, with some centers designed for 200 students being allocated as many as 400 applicants, causing administrative difficulties.
The All Sindh Private Schools and Colleges Association also expressed serious concerns over last-minute center allocations, software glitches and glitches in the exam registration system, terming them a source of mental stress for students. The association further said that overcrowding in smaller centers could facilitate cheating and reflect poor planning by authorities.
Meanwhile, students and teachers were demanding better arrangements, citing poor infrastructure and lack of basic facilities at several centers.
Despite official claims of smooth progress, the first day of matric exams was marred by allegations of mismanagement, infrastructure failures and security breaches, raising questions about the preparedness of the exam system.
