Fraudulent examiner case highlights oversight issues in boards

LAHORE:In an unusual twist to examination fraud, authorities have uncovered a case where a school employee impersonated a qualified examiner to check Matric papers for the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore.

While student impersonation during exams is relatively common, this rare instance involves a Naib Qasid (office assistant) who allegedly posed as a teacher to secure appointment as a sub-examiner in connivance with the Board staff for Islamiyat papers.

The issue came to light after journalists raised concerns with BISE authorities, highlighting potential gaps in the Board’s verification mechanisms for ensuring fair and transparent paper marking. Nonetheless, the BISE Controller of Examination Muhammad Zahid Mian, was swift to act and formed a probe committee on April 4, 2025, to investigate the matter.

The investigation revealed a potentially coordinated network involving three individuals: Hafiz Syed Muhammad Umar, who is actually a Naib Qasid (office assistant) at Government Central Model School, Lower Mall, but presented himself as a teacher; Shahid Khalil, a Senior School Teacher (SST) at the same institution who allegedly misused the school stamp and forged the principal’s signature to attest Umar’s fake credentials; and Muhammad Yousaf, an Assistant (BS-16) in BISE’s Secrecy Examiner Section who failed to verify the submitted documents properly.

This issue concerns the provincial capital, where top authorities are based. It raises questions about how exam staff appointments are managed, especially in the eight other BISEs, some of which are far from the metropolis and lack direct oversight from authorities like the Minister for Education, Rana Sikandar Hayat, who has previously taken action in BISE Lahore.

Sources claim that the connection might run deeper, with Muhammad Yousaf's son reportedly ‘accommodated’ as a daily-wage teacher at the same Central Model School, Lower Mall, where Umar and Khalil work.

According to the documents available with The News, the probe committee has recommended severe actions against all three individuals. Hafiz Syed Muhammad Umar’s appointment as sub-examiner has been immediately rescinded, his name blacklisted for life by BISE, and authorities have recommended his termination from contract services along with criminal proceedings under multiple sections of the Pakistan Penal Code relating to forgery, fraud, and cheating.

For Shahid Khalil, the committee has recommended immediate suspension and disciplinary proceedings for attesting credentials of a fake teacher. Similarly, Muhammad Yousaf faces suspension and proceedings for negligence in verification of the submitted documents, which reportedly lacked basic authentication such as diary numbers and dates.