Efforts urged to ensure transparency in matriculation exams

PESHAWAR: Senior government officials at a meeting here on Sunday called for efforts to ensure transparency in the ongoing matriculation examinations being conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Peshawar.

It was learnt that Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah chaired the meeting that reviewed measures to ensure transparency during the ongoing matriculation examinations, provide facilities to students and curb cheating.

Commissioner Peshawar and Chairman BISE Riaz Khan Mehsud, Secretary BISE Mehdi Jan, Additional Secretary Education Muhammad Shoaib, Controller of Examinations, and examination staff from centres across Peshawar, Charsadda, Upper and Lower Chitral, Khyber, and Mohmand districts attended the meeting.

Shahab Ali Shah stated that decisive steps had been taken to check cheating. He urged the examination staff to fulfill their responsibilities with honesty to help stop the use of unfair means.

The chief secretary said that teachers were the architects of the nation, and the foundation of education lay in their hands. He reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring merit, transparency, and improvements in the education system. He announced that a modern e-marking system would be introduced to help eliminate cheating.He said that currently, 9 million children were enrolled in schools across the province, while 4.9 million remained out of school.

He said that efforts were underway to implement a comprehensive strategy to enroll out-of-school children. He stressed that education must never become a commercial enterprise, and the role of teachers in strengthening the education system would be revitalized.

Riaz Mehsud highlighted the steps taken by the board to ensure transparency and eliminate cheating. He asserted that actions against such elements would continue until they were brought to justice.At the meeting, awards were distributed among examination staff members who maintained discipline and transparency during the matriculation examinations.