The leaked Peshawar study papers have made students, parents and educators question the credibility of the system.
PESHAWAR:
The recent entrance exams in Peshawar have been the subject of intense public scrutiny, as repeated reports of paper leaks dominated social media and drew sharp criticism from parents and education experts, who described the situation as a serious failure by the government and the education board.
Haris Khan, a resident of Gulbahar, said he had serious doubts about the transparency of the Peshawar Board’s recent reviews. “Almost every day, test leaks were reported. One day it was one test and the next day another. Under such circumstances, how can one have confidence in the fairness of the examination system or the grades awarded.
The government should install cameras in all examination halls and adopt a stronger networking and surveillance system to protect the future of students,” Khan said.
Shah Nawaz Khan, a professor at Islamia College Peshawar, revealed that paper leaks in the recent matric exams were a major mistake and reflected the incompetence of both the administration and the government. According to Khan, some private schools, in connivance with authorities and administrators, buy exam halls to ensure high grades for their students. These results are then used in advertisements to encourage more parents to enroll their children in these schools.
“In the past, such incidents of leaking of documents before the scheduled time had never happened in the Peshawar education board. However, this time, ten minutes after the start of each newspaper, the same newspaper was circulating on WhatsApp groups. This not only demonstrated the incompetence of the school board officials but also raised serious questions about the transparency of the government’s education system,” Khan noted.
Peshawar board chairman Khuda Bakhsh told The Express PK Press Club that although some reports were circulating on social media about one or two paper leaks in matric exams, the claims that every paper was leaked were false. Bakhsh claimed that during the exams, action was taken against 24 teachers who were suspended after papers were leaked from an exam hall.
“Strict measures have been taken against several exam centers and cheating practices, so no incidents of paper leakage have taken place so far during the ongoing midterm exams. Around 100,000 students and 6,000 invigilators are involved in the exam process, and sometimes some invigilators ‘make mistakes’ and share papers or multiple choice questions with relatives. However, this year strict measures have been implemented and, apart from one or two cases, no paper leaks have occurred,” Bakhch said.
On the other hand, some parents have also expressed concerns about the new cluster system. Murad Ali Shah, a resident of Peshawar and a parent whose daughter was appearing for the Grade 9 exams, told The Express PK Press Club that the system created difficulties for many families as some students were allotted exam centers nearby while others were allotted exam centers far away, causing significant inconvenience to parents.
Khuda Bakhsh believes that some people spread fake news and misinformation on social media, while others spread it without verification despite the absence of truth. “Exam rooms have been moved from private buildings to government buildings to better prevent cheating,” he responded.
