Full marks to students: PHC summons BISE chairmen

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has summoned chairmen of all the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to explain as to how it could be possible that students are obtaining almost full marks in the annual examinations.

The court took notice while hearing a writ petition filed for legislation or adoption of a law to determine the weight of school bags of students of primary and secondary schools.

During hearing, Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan observed that private educational institutions are in the run in getting higher positions in the examinations. “Students are almost getting full marks and it seems they are more intelligent than Allama Muhammad Iqbal. To get up to 1,080 marks out of total 1,100 marks has become a routine result,” the judge observed.

In order to tackle the issue of race between the private educational institutions for getting high marks, the court comprising Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim observed it was going to resolve it by summoning all the chairmen of the BISE of the province to the next hearing of the case.

Secretary, Higher Education Department and Secretary, Elementary and Secondary Education Department and Managing Director KP Private Schools Regulatory Authority appeared in the case.

The beech directed the secretaries concerned and MD Private Schools Regulatory Authority to devise a formula under which there is less number of books that are inexpensive. The court directed the officials to come prepared with practical solution at the next hearing and not with paper work alone.

Justice Qasher Rashid further remarked that the private schools have also started business in books and stationary by selling to students at higher prices than the market rate. He observed that the bags are so heavy that children find it difficult to carry to carry. He felt this is injurious to children’s health.

A Peshawar lawyer, Moammar Jalal, had filed the writ petition to request the bench to issue direction to the respondents to legislate or adopt a law concerning the appropriate weight of school bags of children of primary and secondary schools in keeping with their age or class.

It was stated in the petition that children studying in primary and secondary classes face a number of challenges, including the weight of their school bags and peculiar curriculum. It was pointed out that the weight of school bags ranging from 12kg to 15kg cause health issues for the schoolchildren.

“In the era when everything has gone digital, there is no attention towards any sort of electronic homework by using emails, etc. The kids are almost left with no alternatives than to carry the anomalous weight of their bags against their own body weight,” the petitioner submitted before the court.