BSEK starts working on strategy to check cheating in exams

The chairman of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK), Professor Dr Saeeduddin, has said that his department started working on an aggressive strategy with new gadgets and tactics to check the use of unfair means in examinations and crack down on the mafia behind it.

The board, with its enhanced efficiency, would try to announce the exam results of the ninth and tenth classes ahead of schedule, he said.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his recent budget speech, had reaffirmed his government’s commitment to eliminate the cheating culture from the province once and for all. 

“This year, we have taken steps to identify and eradicate the cheating mafia in different cities of Sindh. We will further strengthen the examination system so that no one could deprive talented and hardworking students of their better carrier,” the CM had said.

In an interview with APP, the BSEK chairman warned the cheaters and their facilitators of strict systematic and administrative checks under the board’s calculated and scientific strategy from the next annual examinations of ninth and tenth classes.

There would be zero tolerance for cheating and tampering with the results, he said and stressed that instead of relying on the use of unfair means, students and teachers must utilise their energy, time and skills to better prepare for the examinations.

“We have planned detailed meetings with heads of private and government schools to inform them that the BSEK would be tougher from the next year by using many innovative tools and mechanism.

“They would also be convinced to support the board’s efforts to eliminate the menace of copy culture and help build a strong academic base for students who are the future of the country, he said.

Dr Saeeduddin, who has served on senior positions in the education department before taking the responsibility as the KSEK chairman in the second half of last year, was determined that the copy culture would be eliminated through coordinated efforts supported by the government and law enforcement agencies.

He praised the chief minister for showing his resolve and extending full support to the board’s efforts to eliminate the cheating mafia, “who are enemies of the nation”.

He appealed to all sections of the society, especially political and religious leaders, to play their vital role in wiping out the copy culture, which, he said, had badly damaged the nation in the face of a tough global competition and fast evolution of new disciplines.

About some major corrective measures being introduced by the board, Dr Saeeduddin said that from the next year the number of examinations centres would be reduced to 150 from 392 because it was also very difficult to properly monitor such a large number of centres. From next year, he said, only schools having big, safe buildings with all required facilities would be selected as exam centres. 

He added that at least three months before the examinations, the final list of the exam centres would be displayed at the board office and uploaded on its website.

Dr Saeeduddin said only teachers of very good repute and strong commitment would be assigned duties as chief control officers, superintendents and invigilators.  “Now, I have understood the demography of Karachi,” he remarked.

He claimed that the board had also improved the assessment/marking procedures to ensure transparency and authenticity of the results and for their earliest possible announcement.

The board had received around 160,000 answer copies and after secret coding these copies had been handed over to the three assessment centres set up by the board at secret places in the city, he noted.

Ten assessors/examiners and one deputy head assessor had been appointed to see the marking done by juniors. Then, the head assessor would countercheck the marking.

For the first time, the board had appointed deputy heads and head checkers over the checkers, he said.

When the copies returned to the board office, the marks awarded by the assessors would be recounted by all these checkers placed in the three categories so that there was no chance of mistake, he added.

The BSEK chairman said that the board’s question papers’ bank would be ready before the end of July, and the screening and evaluation of the questions would be completed from August to November.