Matric exams witness delays, papers leaked across Karachi

KARACHI: The conducting of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Annual Examination 2021 (matriculation exams) witnessed several irregularities on Monday at various examination centres across the city.

The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) extended the duration of Class 10 examination after the papers could not be delivered at various examination centres in the city. The examination was supposed to commence at 9:30AM but could not be started till 12PM.

According to reports, the physics paper was not delivered to examination centres set up at private schools in Dhoraji, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Landhi and Korangi areas. The paper could not be delivered to the Government Girls Secondary School in Sachal Goth.

It was also reported that there was a delay in the arrival of exam papers in North Nazimabad, New Karachi, North Karachi, Orangi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal up to an hour. There were also several violations of COVID-19 SOPs reported at various centres.

The second shift of matriculation exams also faced several issues. The papers for economics and Islamic studies could not reach several examination centres. A school administration in the city’s Maripur area was forced to send students back after they did not receive the examination papers. The exam was scheduled for 2:30pm, but it did not start after several hours.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Saeed Ghani issued a statement following reports of mismanagement on the first paper, saying he is “looking into” the issues. “Education boards do not fall under my jurisdiction,” he clarified.

The board took notice of the situation and announced that an investigation would also be launched after the first paper of class 10 was leaked online. The Physics paper for class 10 was leaked just four minutes after the matric exam was scheduled to begin at 9:30AM besides also the circulation of the solved paper on social media.

Chairman Matric Board Sharaf Ali Shah and Controller Examination Muhammad Ali visited several examination centres and examined the process. The BSEK chairman said that it may be possible that schools were receiving the papers late causing a delay in distribution among students at the centres.

A total of 348,249 students have registered for the ninth grade and matric exams in the science and general groups. Of the 438 examination centres, 185 have been set up in government schools and 253 in private schools where 201 centres are for girls and 237 for boys.

A reporting cell has been set up at the board office to monitor the examinations. Special teams of the board will take steps to prevent the copy culture. Students were warned not to bring mobile phones to the exam centres or else they will be confiscated.

The district administration has issued letters to law enforcement agencies to enforce section 144 on all examination centres, under which external interference would be prohibited.