Who will test the teachers? | HSSC exams under strict vigilance

Gross mismanagement by the authorities
Karachi, April 28: There is much public dismay at the messing up of the testing process for school teachers the other day in Karachi and the rest of Sindh. By announcing the postponement of the test paper at the eleventh hour the Sindh education department upset thousands of candidates who had assembled for the written paper. Gross mismanagement by the authorities showed they had learnt nothing from their experience on Friday when the test for high school teachers was similarly disrupted by several applicants who did not receive their admit cards and were asked to wait. These incidents point to the decay and corruption that has seeped into the education sector and are making the people impatient. It is clear that those who administer the public school system in the province are not capable - or are unwilling - to provide good state-funded education to our children. In spite of the rapid expansion of the private sector, an overwhelming majority of students are still enrolled in government schools. Hence the negative impact of such incidents reaches far and wide.

There can be no justification for the education department's failure to manage the recruitment process of its teachers. Teachers are central to the quality of education imparted and to that of the human resource produced as a result. Yet the authorities failed to organise a simple test to select the best in spite of the $100m funding provided by the World Bank for the purpose. On this occasion, matters became serious when the number of vacancies to be filled snowballed to 13,500 in the absence of regular recruitments over the years and over 200,000 applicants had to be tested in the province. It now appears the education department lacks the expertise and management skills to handle a job of this size. Although the task was outsourced to the Sindh University, its performance proved to be equally disappointing. It could not even ensure the secrecy of the question paper that was leaked before the test began. Was that surprising? Most of our institutions of higher education have proved themselves inept at holding examinations transparently and cheating is rampant. One cannot be certain if the scripts will be honestly assessed and the appointments will actually be on the basis of merit as promised by the authorities. There is urgent need for reforms - and the beginning must be made with the teachers who can radically upgrade the performance of the entire sector. This is possible if teachers are appointed because they are qualified to teach - and this can only be ensured if the recruitment process is managed efficiently.

SU officials concerned over leak of paper
Hyderabad: The deans of faculties and the members of syndicate of the University of Sindh on Monday voiced concern over leak of question paper for the job test of primary schoolteachers and resolved to identify culprits and award them deterrent punishment.

They said at a meeting presided over by Vice-Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui that the incident was a great setback for the credibility of the university.

They agreed to conduct test of PST candidates and requested the vice-chancellor to ask the secretary of education and literacy department to provide final list of candidates rather than EDOs.

The meeting was convened by the vice-chancellor to review arrangements made for the tests of high and junior school teachers at 22 districts of the province on April 24 and 25, respectively.

The deans, who were appointed as chief vigilance officers at examination centres in different districts accompanied by the syndicate members informed the meeting that university teachers and staff performed duties in a well-organised manner and district management cooperated with them.

They blamed incomplete data provided by the EDOs concerned for creating a lot of problems for the university staff at every examination centre and said that the conduct and supervision of papers was very smooth. The candidates and their parents appreciated arrangements, they claimed.

The deans expressed determination to conduct the remaining tests and put forward proposals in this regard.

The meeting in light of experiences shared by the vigilance teams decided to approach the secretary of education to ask him to provide final list of candidates, and decided that the date for test would be notified after receiving the list.

The meeting was attended by pro-vice chancellor Dr Rafia Ahmed Shaikh, deans of faculties Dr Anwar Ali Shah, Dr Iqbal Ahmed Panhwar, Dr M. Usman Memon, Dr M. Qasim Bughio, Dr Sanaullah Bhutto, Dr Abdullah Dayo, members of syndicate Syed Abdul Ghaffar Shah, Khalid Noor Panhwar, Intezar Lashari, Dr M. Saleem Chandio, Dr Lutfullah Mangi, Registrar Mohammad Saleh Rajar and Prof Agha Riaz Hassan, i-ncharge of university transport.

Our Khairpur correspondent adds: The Jeay Sindh Mahaz has held the education department, Sindh University and the administration responsible for the situation sparked by cancellation of teachers' tests and demanded that minister of education and vice-chancellor resign immediately.

JSM general secretary Mohammad Hashim Khoso said in a statement issued on Monday that the officials' sudden disclosure that the paper had been cancelled was painful for the thousand of jobseekers who had been waiting for years for getting jobs.

He demanded that the next date for tests be announced immediately to enable the candidates to prepare for the test.

Partial results of HST test announced
Hyderabad: The Sindh University Testing Centre (SUTC) has announced the result of test for the post of high schoolteachers held in different districts of the province on April 24.

Dr Riaz Ahmed Memon, director of SUTC, said that the centre had announced results of only those candidates whose data had been provided on a CD by EDOs concerned. The results of candidates from Jamshoro, Khairpur, Matiari, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushahro Feroze, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Badin, Thatta and Sukkur districts had been announced and posted on the university's official website at www.usindh.edu.pk/sutc, he said.

He said that process of announcement of results would continue and they would be posted on the website as soon as the answer copies had been assessed through optical marks reader machine.

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Karachi Inter exams starting today under strict vigilance
Karachi: The intermediate annual examinations of the Karachi board will start from April 28 (today) as all necessary arrangements have been completed.

The chairman of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK), Anwar Ahmed Zai, announced this on Monday. He said that about 281,000 candidates would appear in the examinations which would be conducted at some 229 examination centres in the city. The number of students appearing in exams has increased by seven per cent this year.

Mr Ahmed Zai said that in the first phase the exams of the science and the home economics groups would be held.

The papers will start at 9.30am instead of 9.00am and will end at 12.30pm instead of 12noon. The afternoon papers of the commerce group will start at 2.30pm and will end at 5.30pm except on Friday when these papers will be held between 3.30pm and 6.30pm. The examinations of the commerce group will start from May 2 and of the humanities group from May 30.

He said that no candidate would be allowed to enter the examination centre after 9.30am. From this year, he said, the examinations would be held under a new scheme. He said that an objective type paper of 20 per cent marks would be distributed among the candidates and would be taken back after 20 minutes along with the answer sheet.

After that, the second question paper of 80 per cent marks would be distributed which the students have to solve in the next two and a half hours. It would have 50 per cent short-answer questions and 30 per cent descriptive questions.

'Most sensitive' centres
The chairman of the board also announced that all arrangements had been completed to ensure smooth conduct of the exams.

He said that a meeting was held with home department officials and they had been given a list of 27 "most sensitive examination centres" for making extra security arrangements at these centres.

In view of Section 144 of the criminal procedure code being in force, necessary steps would be taken at examination centres to end any external interference at these sensitive centres, he said.

He added that the Karachi Electric Supply Company had been asked not to carry out load-shedding during examination hours.

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SBTE exams
The Technical School Certificate part-I and II (Class IX and X) annual examinations-2009 begin on Tuesday under the aegis of the Sindh Board of Technical Education (SBTE), our staff reporter adds.

A total of 3,271 candidates enroled by 43 technical schools of the city will appear in the examination. However, not a single candidate from the interior of Sindh, except Dadu, will appear in the examination. In all, 47 candidates (37 for Class IX and 10 for Class X) from Dadu have been registered by the board for the exams.

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SSC exams began in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Higher Secondary School certificate (intermediate) examinations will get under way on Tuesday in Sindh amidst reservations of Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) over formation of vigilance teams and invigilation staff that would supervise the conduct of examinations in nine districts, falling under the jurisdiction of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Hyderabad.

According to BISE controller Professor Mohsin Atta, vigilance teams comprised senior professors and principals that would visit the centres under supervision of EDO education of the concerned district. He said that BISE forms the team after looking into seniority of every teacher. "Association wants that all the teachers recommended by it are inducted in the team which is not possible for us", he said.

Besides irregularities in submission of examination forms even a day before when HSC examinations are to commence i.e. Tuesday continued in BISE with payment of late fee. There were reports that junior lecturers had also been made externals and internals of the examinations. The conduct branch of BISE was opened till filing of this report at 9.30 pm on Wednesday as slips (admit cards) were reportedly being issued to students whose forms were either submitted late or returned from colleges after removal of objections raised by BISE.

Students could be seen visiting city's book stores to buy guides and solved papers ahead of their examinations that was reflective of their studies related preparedness

According to BISE chairman Professor Fazle Haq, vigilance teams would visit 111 centres in nine districts and civil administration of concerned district had been approached for imposition of section 144 Cr.PC in and around examinations centres.

Hyderabad region SPLA president Mohammad Yaqoob Chandio claimed that the suggestions given by SPLA regarding 50-50 formula for formation of vigilance teams and invigilation staff had not been given any weight. He said that professors and senior lecturers having minimum of five years of service should be inducted in the vigilance teams and invigilation staff. Dawn

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Begging for education
Karachi: "Allah kai wastai kitab, copieyan, bag aur jotaye khareednai ka sawal hai," is written on the charts that they hold in their hands.

Sitting on the footpath outside the Tech City building, Shaesta and Ghulam Rasool, two kids sitting in their school uniform are begging for money. "We are here with our father so that we can beg for money and purchase school stuff for ourselves," says Shaestha, who claims to be a student of KG-2, with eyes kept strictly on the footpath.

No one can understand why they are looking down; it is either because of helplessness and deprivation. They don't say a word, unlike the traditional beggars; they don't offer any comments or cling to a person, begging for money. Both the children are wearing a blue school dress with black school shoes. Sagar Ali Butt, 67, their father, is sitting at a distance from them; he comes and narrates the whole situation to the people who take even a bit of interest in the banners his children are holding.

"I want them to get quality education so I admitted them into a private school," says Butt. When asked why he did not enroll them into a government school if his financial condition was not strong, he replies that the education imparted in the government schools is of a poor quality. Butt, a resident of Korangi-4, claims that his children are geniuses and he wants them to continue their education. "I am physically unfit so I cannot work," he says. He regrets that his family cannot support him. However, he is not ashamed of bringing his children to the roads to beg.

"If people can beg for mosques and maddrrassah, where they train terrorists so why can't I beg in order to make my children successful professionals," Butt says with confidence. He then offers certificates of the children as proof; Shaestha placed second in her class whereas, Ghulam Rasool stood first in the last school exams by scoring 91 percent. Both the children look to their father, but their eyes are empty, as if their minds are somewhere else. Maybe their minds are in school, sitting next to their colleagues reading new books; maybe they are cursing their father for forcefully taking to them to the streets to beg.

They need Rs 2,330 in order to purchase all their school stuff. Though, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) Regional Promotion Manager Salam Darejo regards the phenomenon as forced beggary on the part of the parents. "This may be a new style of beggary," he says, admitting that he never saw such a case in his life. Both the students of Cadet Public School, Korangi are sitting on the footpath with their certificates, admit cards and mark sheets as proof of their innocence. "Abu kehthay hai taleem kai liya mangna bura nahi," little Rasool says in a soft voice while never looking up.

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Co-edu institutions in city receiving threats from Taliban?
Karachi: Panic has spread in the city's co-education institutions after receiving threats, believed to be from the Taliban, in which they have been warned to close down or face the consequences, Daily Times learnt on Monday. Various educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities have received threatening letters and phone calls by the Taliban. A source privy to the matter revealed that mostly schools having affiliation with the Cambridge Board where male and female students are studying together without any discrimination have received threatening phone calls and also letters posted by the militants.

The source further pointed out that the sender of the threat posed themselves, either on the phone or in the letter, as the Taliban while demanding the end of the co-education system or prepare for an attack. It was also learnt that the vice chancellor of the largest university of the city had also received phone calls by intelligence agencies inquiring about the possible threat of the Taliban. The source revealed that the agencies suggested to the VC of the universityto make the veil (burqa) compulsory for all girl students as a precautionary measure. It is pertinent to mention here that a number of schools have also received fake phone calls of there being a bomb on the school premises.

The source further pointed out that the British Council Pakistan delayed the schedule of the O and A level exams because of the possible threat of terrorism. There are 22 centres that will be announced to host the examinations by the British Council Pakistan, however, the announcement of the centres was delayed and it has been decided by the authorities concerned that the schedule of the examination centres will be disclosed late because of minimum risk. Daily Times

Karachi University awarded M.Phil & PhD degrees
Karachi: Board of Advanced Studies and Research (BASR), University of Karachi (KU) has awarded one M.Phil and seven PhD degrees to following students: Aurang Zaib M.Phil from Mathematics department and PhD degrees to Shazia Khan, Chemistry (HEJ), Sobiya Perwaiz, Chemistry (HEJ, Zeba Tabassum, Islamic History Syed Zulfiqar Ali Naqvi, Biochemistry, Uzma Perveen, Islamic History, Sobia Aftab, Clinical Psychology and Dr. Farida Islam (MBBS), Pharmacology.degrees awarded: Board of Advanced Studies and Research (BASR), University of Karachi (KU) has awarded one M.Phil and seven PhD degrees to following students:

Aurang Zaib M.Phil from Mathematics department and PhD degrees to Shazia Khan, Chemistry (HEJ), Sobiya Perwaiz, Chemistry (HEJ, Zeba Tabassum, Islamic History Syed Zulfiqar Ali Naqvi, Biochemistry, Uzma Perveen, Islamic History, Sobia Aftab, Clinical Psychology and Dr. Farida Islam (MBBS), Pharmacology. The News

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