Karachi
Answer scripts of male students were found at a female examination centre as a super vigilance team of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) conducted a surprise check at the PECHS Girls College on Thursday.
BIEK examination coordinator, Muhammad Imran Khan Chishti, told The News that the board has requested the Sindh director general colleges to immediately take action against the staff involved in the illegal activity so that such networks could be uprooted completely.
According to Chishti, the BIEK super vigilance team was informed a couple of days ago that an employee of the PECHS Girls College, with the help of an outsider who used to work at a college in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, was facilitating a number of students in cheating.
“In a previous visit to the PECHS college, we were not able to catch the culprits but had arranged for an inside informer who could immediately report such irregularities. We wanted to catch the culprits in the act and managed to achieve that today."
When the vigilance team reached the college, staff members were busy in packing the answer scripts. The team unsealed envelopes carrying answer booklets and while checking serial numbers and other information of candidates, they found some copies of different male examination centres, which did not match with the serial numbers allotted to the girls college, Chishti said.
Staffers told the team that the office superintendent, Mairaj, was in charge of the process and on interrogation, Mairaj confirmed the involvement of an office clerk at another college, Ijaz.
According to Chishti, officials of three colleges were involved in this racket, and an investigation has been started to catch their associates.
The BIEK team has recommended that the college principal, Ruqqaiya Qadri, and both accused should not be allowed to perform any duty at the examination centre, and the board should send its team for conducting papers.
“The board chairman has written a letter to the Sinch DG Colleges, who have called Ijaz at his office on Friday for an explanation, and if no action would be taken against the accused, the college could be blacklisted by the board”.
The BIEK head appreciated the role of Chishti in curbing use of unfair means during the examination process.
The super vigilance team consists of DG Colleges Dr Nasir Ansar, Sindh DG Private Institution, Mansoob Hussain Siddiqui, examination coordinator Muhammad Imran Khan Chishti, BEIK acting controller examinations Zarina Rashid, BIEK acting secretary Muhammad Azeem Ahmed, Professor Feroz Uddin Siddiqui and Professor Amir-ul-Haq.
During a visit to another examination centre, the BIEK team found that female students were sitting in examination halls in absence of electricity as the power supply of the centre had been disconnected some eight months ago.
Staffers at the centre told the team that the centre officials had released the due payment but it was not confirmed that either the K-Electric had received the payment or not.
The board chairman directed the relevant authorities to arrange a chargeable fan for a student who went unconscious due to soaring heat and dehydration during her last paper.
He mentioned the board had written numbers of letters to the K-Electric officials and requested not to observe power cuts during the hours of examinations, but the power utility did not show any cooperation.