Karachi: The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) went against the established practice of replacing a leaked paper with an alternative paper and postponed the Class X paper of Islamiat at the eleventh hour on Saturday after it had been leaked, triggering a widespread violent protest by candidates across the city, it emerged on Sunday.

It became quite clear that the BSEK had not adopted the standard procedure when its controller of examinations Kalim Asghar Kirmani in a press release described the practice of replacing a leaked paper with an alternative one as a "misunderstanding".

"An examination paper which is prepared by three different senior teachers is turned into 'one paper' after its moderation and it takes more or less 10 hours to print the same. And once the paper is printed, packets containing papers for each examination centres are prepared which are dispatched to the examination centres through group leaders," he said.

However, background interviews with a number of educationists who had either remained associated with some examining bodies or had conducted examinations at different educational boards and universities said that it was beyond their comprehension that why the BSEK officials chose to postpone Saturday's paper instead of replacing the leaked paper with an alternative paper on the pattern of other examining bodies in the country.

Lashing out at the BSEK officials for the postponement of the paper, the educational experts Dawn spoke with said that it was an established practice that an examining body usually got set at least three to five sets of papers with the help of moderators and kept all these papers ready.

"All of these alternative papers are printed and packed so that if the examining authorities come to know about leaking of a paper, they could replace the same with the alternative papers generally marked as A, B, C, D and E papers and are kept locked in the secrecy branch of a board or university," one of them said.

Commenting on the Saturday's incident in which the candidates reacted angrily, they said that since the act of postponing the examination amounted to playing with the nerves of the candidates and their parents, the BSEK officials should ensure that such an incident should not occur again and that could only by done by following the standardised procedures being followed by other examining bodies in the country.

Referring to the procedures practiced in other educational boards and universities, including the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK), the education experts said that these measures included a thorough checking of all the personnel working in their secrecy branch of examinations, keeping at least three sets of each paper ready and no one should be allowed to leave the branch at least until an hour after the commencement of the examination, whether he is a head examiner, moderator or a junior clerk or a peon.

Mentioning that some senior officials of the BSEK had been replaced in the wake of a high-level inquiry which the Sindh governor had ordered following a rampant use of unfair means and irregularities which had been reported in the SSC annual examinations-2009, they said that such measures proved cosmetic measures only as incompetent officials remained in their places.Moreover, they also alleged that affairs of the BSEK were being mismanaged because the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Act, 1973, was not being followed in the letter and spirit.

In this regard, they pointed out the former chairman was a retired army official while the incumbent chairman is a retired civil servant, though the Act clearly states that the chairman of educational boards must have an educational background.

Besides, they add that the incumbent controller of examinations of the BSEK was the head of the BSEK enrolment section.

In addition to this, a former additional secretary of finance at the Governor's House, upon his retirement, has recently been appointed as the director educational research in the BSEK, though five years of research experience is mandatory for the post, they add.

Governor's directives
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan has directed that high-powered teams, including ministers, should carry out surprise visits from Monday of the examinations centres of the ongoing 9th and 10th class annual examinations of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK).

This was pointed out in an official statement issued here on Sunday.

The governor, who is also the controlling authority of the examinations boards in the province, emphasised that the examinations system should be made transparent and credible.

He said that the machinations of a certain mafia in this connection were being frustrated.

The 'mafia' was trying to sabotage the steps that had been taken for improving the examinations system and that this had become obvious from the recent incidents, he said.

The governor also assured the higher officials of the board of his assistance for its action against this mafia.

He said that criminal cases would be initiated against those found involved in unlawful activities.

Dr Ibad said that for better coordination and dispatch of the question papers it was being considered that the number of examination centres be reduced from 450 to 50.

Some other measures in this connection were also under consideration and that latest and computerised approach would be adopted, the governor added. Dawn