Corruption, result manipulation exposed in BISE Hyderabad

KARACHI: The Chief Minister Inspection, Enquiries, and Implementation Team Department (CMIE&ITD) in its inquiry has found three former top officers and an official as responsible for massive corruption, SSC, HSC results manipulation, and management failure, at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Hyderabad and recommended legal action against them.

According to the inquiry report assessed by The News, the inquiry was initiated following the directions of Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, who received various complaints about the Board’s affairs, including one from the incumbent Chairman of the Board, Dr Ahmed Ali Birohi.

The Chief Minister Inspection, Enquiries and Implementation Team Department (CMIE&ITD) declared the former chairman, controller, former IT manager, and clerk responsible for the massive corruption, result manipulation, and administrative failures spanning nearly a decade in the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Hyderabad. The Inquiry Report was submitted to the Chief Minister, Sindh, for further legal action.

The inquiry revealed that examination forms of 447 candidates for SSC Exams-2024 were uploaded on the BISE Hyderabad portal without payment of the required fees and after the announcement of the results. This resulted in a financial loss of Rs3.762 million to the exchequer.

The inquiry report also established large-scale manipulation of SSC and HSC examination results between 2017 and 2024. The computerized results ledger, maintained by the IT department, showed discrepancies with the manual tabulation ledgers. In many cases, results were altered to unfairly benefit certain students, with some even receiving A-1 grades despite failing in their exams. The Controller of Examination failed to constitute a scrutiny committee for result verification. This violation, along with the lack of reconciliation between the manual and computerized records, allowed for unchecked manipulation of exam results. A review of the IT systems revealed that until 2023, the Board used outdated software (Fox Pro) and hardware prone to viruses and security breaches. The lack of login passwords on desktop computers in the Top-Secret Section left the system open to unauthorized access and manipulation.

The investigation uncovered that the IT Manager, and Controller of Examination, played a pivotal role in manipulating results. The IT Manager was found responsible for preparing manipulated databases for SSC and HSC exams, while the Controller was found guilty of authorizing the publication of manipulated results. The inquiry report also described the former chairman, who served from 2015 to 2021, as responsible for the widespread manipulation of results. Under his leadership, the re-assessment of answer sheets was conducted illegally, resulting in the alteration of grades for thousands of candidates.

The inquiry also highlighted several critical administrative failures, including the prolonged vacancy in the position of Controller of Examination, which remained unfilled since 2014. This gap contributed to widespread inefficiencies and mismanagement in the examination process. It also pointed to the failure of the administrative departments to take necessary action to address these issues despite repeated violations.

It recommended the registration of cases against all four by the Sindh Anti-Corruption Establishment and sending their cases to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for allegedly possessing assets beyond their known sources of income. It also recommended barring the former Chairman from government employment. Interestingly the former Chairman after completing his seven-year tenure was appointed as a member of the ‘search committee’ to select the Vice-Chancellors of the public sector universities and chairmen of educational boards.

Besides penal action, the inquiry report recommended cancelling 447 forms uploaded for the SSC Exams 2024 without payment of fees and re-assessing the results of eight students, whose grades were illegally altered. It also recommended reforms in the IT infrastructure to ensure data security with a modern, secure backup system to protect student records.