MARDAN: The Private Education Network (PEN) on Friday announced to boycott the process of conducting practical examinations in the private schools and demanded that like the theory examination the practical examination should also be conducted at government run schools.
Speaking at a news conference, PEN district president Sohail Iqbal and others said that 1000 schools were registered with the PEN. They added that before the matriculation examination the secretary education decided to conduct the examination at government schools’ halls instead of private schools. They added that Mardan and Kohat education boards implemented this decision and conducted examinations at government school halls while the other six education boards of the province did not follow this decision. They alleged that discrimination was committed against the private schools’ students in the government halls. They further alleged that several inspectors, district administration officials conducted raids on those halls where the private school students were taking the examination. They alleged that basic facilities were not available for the students at the examination halls. They added that the Mardan board conducted theory at government school halls and now the board has decided to conduct the practical examination at private schools.
They said that they were not ready to conduct the practical examination at private schools. They argued that like the theory examination the practical examination should also be conducted at government schools.
They added that the government discriminated on the basis of cheating in private halls. They added that hall A was made for government school children while hall B was made for private children and the number of examination staff and inspectors was more in Hall B, while the number of inspectors was less in the examination halls of government school children. They alleged that electricity and cold water facilities were not available in the examination halls of government schools, but the children sit for exams in dilapidated buildings.
