Candidates protest irregularities in ETEA test

BANNU: The candidates, who appeared in the screening test for the recruitment of schoolteachers conducted by the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA) on Tuesday, staged a protest against the alleged irregularities, demanding immediate cancellation of the test and transparent re-examination.

The protest rally began from Milad Park in Bannu City, with candidates carrying placards denouncing the irregularities in the ETEA test. The participants marched through various markets in the city and culminated at the Bannu Press Club, where leaders, including Ishaq Khan, Muhammad Talha, Wahab Khan and others, addressed.

The speakers said that the ETEA test for the Primary School Teacher (PST) post was held on May 10 in Bannu, and the lack of transparency was exposed when local administration officials caught individuals solving test papers inside a private hujra (guesthouse).

This incident, they claimed, was proof that the test was not conducted fairly and may have been compromised in other regions as well.While the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister has ordered an inquiry into the matter, the candidates argued that since the evidence was already clear, further investigation was unnecessary.

They accused political interference in the recruitment process and emphasized that ETEA was supposed to be a trustworthy institution. Although they had been assured that the testing process would be transparent, the hujra incident proved otherwise.

The protesters alleged that the misconduct occurred with the knowledge and approval of ETEA officials, making them complicit in the cheating scandal. They demanded the immediate cancellation of the test and a halt to the announcement of results.The candidates warned they would resort to blocking roads and boycotting future ETEA tests in protest if their demands were not met.