students can concentrate on their exams,” he said. “However, we would like to ask the provincial government to make sure all the dues are paid back as soon as possible. The KE will not punish students for the negligence of others.”
According to the KE, 46 power lines were disconnected for not paying dues. However, said the spokesman, the power company had now decided temporarily relief to thousands of students appearing in their annual exams.
Exam centres
Meanwhile, in order to ensure zero tolerance of unfair means during examinations, a high-level inspection team led by the BIEK chairman Prof Zai paid surprise visits to different examination centres, said the board officials.
The team comprised BIEK examination controller Chishti, secretary Qazi Arshad Hussain, director-general colleges Dr Nasir Ansar, director-general private schools Mansoob Husain Siddiqui and representatives of different print and electronic media.
Zaid said the BIEK had already been taking sound initiatives for curbing the use of unfair means during examinations. In this regard, it was said, BIEK had for the first time introduced admit card system with electronically-scanned photograph of candidates due to which only genuine candidates could sit for exams.
He claimed this step had reduced the chances of impersonation of candidates drastically and the inspection team did not find any cases of use of unfair mean during exams.
The examination controller lauded the performance of invigilators, teaching faculty and other staff for maintaining discipline at examination centres and smooth conduction of the process.
Eight impersonation cases
Meanwhile invigilators at the Government Degree Boys College in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, adjacent to Sheikh Zaid Islamic Centre, claimed during the evening shift that had observed eight cases of impersonation of candidates.
The relevant officials while talking to The News also claimed that all of the fake candidates ran away from the examination centre well before any action could be taken against them.
However, when contacted, the examination controller Imran Khan Chishti replied that colleges officials and examination staff should have informed the Board if any such activity had been witnessed.
“We have provided centres and invigilators smart phones with mobile internet facilities so they can contact the control room established at the BIEK or other higher officials to inform them of any irregularity.”
Besides this event, all the papers were held in a peaceful environment. However, such misleading attitude of officials could reflect badly on the BIEK which has been trying hard to uproot the culture of cheating from examinations, said the examination controller.
Power failure slammed
The Karachi leadership of Pakistan People’s Party strongly criticised the prolonged power outages.
Even if the board had defaulted on its payments, the power utility had no right to restore electricity failures at examination centres, said PPP Karachi division’s general-secretary Najmi Alam and others in a joint statement issued on Tuesday.
They demanded that KE should exempt examination centres from power breakdowns immediately.