82, 83pc pass class 5, 8 exams respectively

Education secretary’s school bags top three positions in class 5; teacher bodies demand probe; secretary says achievement being portrayed negatively

LAHORE

Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) on Friday announced the results of Class 5 and Class 8 Annual Examinations 2017, according to which, pass percentage remained 82 and 83, respectively.

In Class-5 exams, the first position was shared by students of Thal Public School, Khushab, including Nida Kanwal and Malaika Zafar who secured 492 marks each. 

Thal Public School and Inter College runs under a trust with Secretary School Education Department Punjab Abdul Jabbar Shaheen as Chairman of the Board of Governors. 

The second position was bagged by Aneela Mukhtar, a student of the same school, with 491 marks.

The third position in Class-5 examinations was shared by three students (including two from Thal Public School and one from a Lahore’s school) Muhammad Kashif and Muhammad Abdullah with 490 marks each.

In Class-8 exams, the first position was grabbed by Roshan Zahra, a student from Bhakkar with 494 marks. The second position was shared by Muhammad Maaz, Ayesha Nawaz and Rida Fatima with 493 marks each. Similarly, the third position was also shared by two candidates, including Muhammad Naeem and Arooba Tayyab.   

A number of teachers’ associations expressed concerns over the results saying the government should investigate as to how the private school being run by secretary schools got all three positions in Class-5 exams. 

However, when contacted, Secretary Schools Abdul Jabbar Shaheen regretted that the achievement was being portrayed negatively. “I have no role in the results,” he said and added the results of school’s matriculation and intermediate level results were also excellent over the years. He said Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) was an independent body and followed a rigorous process to conduct exams and declare results. He said Thal Public School and Inter College was providing quality education to less privileged masses of the locality. 

“I placed the property which I inherited from my father under the Trust for this noble cause,” secretary schools said. To a question he said no student from his school had appeared in Class-8 examinations.

According to the school website, the school operates under the auspices of Sattar Sharifan Trust for which 15 acre land was exhorted in Chak No. 22 MB, Khushab district.

The foundation stone was laid by Mrs Sharifan Bibi, mother of Abdul Jabbar Shaheen, the founder of the school on August 2, 2006.