MM News

KARACHI: Due to the alleged incompetence of the Sindh government the academic year of 7,000 students from four different categories willing to pass intermediate has been wasted and their desire for higher studies suspended.

According to documents obtained by MM News, more than 7,000 students in Karachi have not been able to avail the promotion policy despite submitting forms to the Inter Board. In 2020, neither the government permitted these students to pass intermediate under the promotion policy and nor did it conduct their examinations.

Students who had switched faculties from science to commerce or arts, those who had migrated from other boards and the Cambridge system, and the ones who had sought permission for the last chance to sit in the exams were overlooked in the promotion policy.

In this regard, the Chairman Committee Boards of Education of Sindh and Chairman Inter Board Karachi met Secretary Boards and Universities Qazi Shahid Perviz and informed him about the issue and later also wrote a letter.

The Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) has been seeking permission for months to promote these students like thousands of other students were promoted under the previous promotion policy but the government of Sindh and the relevant department, Sindh Universities and Boards Department are not taking any action in this regard.

According to the reliable sources affiliated with the board, the number of these students from four different categories is around 7,000. These categories include TP combined 12 papers of Intermediate part I and II, A-levels students and others who pass exams from different institutions, special and last chance students, besides those having benefit of passed compulsory subjects.

Sources further said last year when the Department of School and College Education and the Department of Universities and Boards jointly worked with the chairpersons of different educational boards to formulate a promotion policy for matric and intermediate students, the students in these four categories were ignored.

This draft became law after being approved by the Sindh Assembly and thousands of students at matriculation and intermediate level were promoted to the next classes on its basis. However, the students of the above-mentioned categories could not benefit from this policy and their precious year was wasted.

A notification was issued, clearly stating that special examinations will be held for the students who could not appear in the examination or were not satisfied with their results and the students of four categories were assured that they would be able to participate in the special examination, to be held in few days. BIEK collected the examination forms and fees from thousands of these students, but the examination could not be held due to the second wave of COVID-19.

The BIEK administration took the matter to its Board of Governors a few months ago, where it was decided to put the matter before the relevant authority and request it to conduct examinations for these students or promote them by awarding 3% additional marks in their previous academic results, like the thousands of other students, it was revealed.

Following this, BIEK wrote a letter to Department of Boards and Universities Secretary Ilmuddin Balo demanding a guideline for conducting an examination or implementing the promotion policy. However, the letter wasn’t responded.

MM News has learned that 7,000 students of the Board of Higher Secondary Education Karachi are worried about their future. According to the students, in 2020, under the promotion policy, they were not promoted without examination and nor conducted special exams in December.

The students said that all the provinces except Sindh conducted special examinations and released the results in time. But they have lost a year due to conflict between Sindh government boards and department boards of universities

However, they had also submitted the examination forms and fees on time. Despite their academic year has been wasted due to poor policies of the Board and the Government of Sindh. It is learned that an affected candidate Muhammad Faisal has also approached the court in this regard and sought to intervene to resolve the issue.

After which the Sindh High Court has issued notices to Chairman Board of Intermediate Karachi Dr. Saeeduddin, Secretary University and Board Karachi Qazi Shahid Pervez and Secretary Education Sindh. The court ordered them to appear in court on May 31 with the record. However, the date has been cancelled due to COVID-19.

In this regard, Dr. Saeed-ud-Din Khan, Chairman, Inter-Board, when contacted by MM News, said, “We have written a letter to the Board and Universities Department asking for their permission. The students will be promoted by taking a special exam, he added.