BSEK mockery of mock test
BSEK makes a mockery of preparations for annual exams
Karachi, March 26: If arrangements made for the mock examinations reflect the preparedness of the
Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) to conduct the actual papers for the
annual examination of 2011, then the candidates could be in for a rough
ride. Arrangements made by the Board of Secondary Education Karachi came
under fire on Friday, with parents and students saying that if things continued
in this manner, the candidates would be unable to secure decent marks in the
actual exams. The board conducted the mock exam for the English Part-I
paper for the Secondary School Certificate of the Science and General Group.
This is the very first time that the board had held mocks before the actual
examinations and the paper was scheduled from 9:30am to 12:30pm. A
number of the venues lacked the required seating space to accommodate the
candidates. Some of the parents said that when their children had
reached the Pakistan Model School in Gulshan-i-Hadeed to take the mock exam,
they were surprised to discover that the building was locked. The students were
subsequently shifted to another building which was located nearby. The
alternative venue also had its fair share of problems. The ground-floor could
not be used as it had been rented out to a family and students were made to take
their exams on the first floor. In an effort to accommodate those students who
were unable to find a place inside the building, the school's management erected
tents outside. Things didn't seem much at the KTS-11 school of Korangi.
Despite the fact that this particular school had been blacklisted, it was chosen
as an examination centre. Although the board had previously decided that only
two candidates would be seated on a single bench at the centres, students could
be seen sitting three abreast at this examination centre in Korangi. Since there
was a massive lack of seating space, some of the students were forced to give
their papers in the corridors of the school. There were also reports of
examinations getting underway after the scheduled start time as students giving
their papers at the Madressa Talim-ul-Islam in Baldia town claimed that the exam
did not begun until 10:00am. The students said that although the
management of the school had requested the BSEK to provide extra furniture to
seat the candidates, no action had been taken in this regard. As a result, the
Madressa Talim-ul-Islam was forced to hire additional benches from a decoration
service. Over at the PAF Government Girls Higher Secondary School on
Drig Road, female candidates were forced to endure the humiliation of having to
give their exams directly in front of the washrooms of the school. The
school, which had a capacity of 700 at the most, was forced to house over 1600
female candidates. Apart from the fact that there was no electricity or water at
this centre, the candidates were also forced to sit on broken benches and
chairs. The administration of this school was also forced to hire extra
furniture to entertain the students and the start of the exam was delayed by at
least half-an-hour due to the lack of seating space. Earlier this week,
a high-level committee constituted by the Governor of Sindh, had announced five
grace marks for those students who were ready to participate in the mock exams
and urged the candidates to take advantage of the opportunity and ensure their
attendance. The committee also decided that only one student would be
seated on a single bench at the larger examination centres and directed the
concerned departments to supply the necessary furniture. However, these
instructions appeared to have been overlooked. Invigilators and
superintendents also had great difficulty in monitoring the mock exam. Secretary
BSEK Hoor Mazhar said that 122,562 candidates had appeared at 166 examination
centres. A high-level committee visited different examination centres, she also
stated. Board's employees also visited the centres and the chairman BSEK
has called for a meeting of all members, who visited the examination centres, on
Sunday, March 27. They would present their reports to the chairman and also
highlight issues and problems pointed out at the examination centres, she
further said. Mazhar said that the BSEK also established a complainant cell at
the Board Office. Adding that the complaints received and recommendations which
would discussed during the meeting on March 27. The Board would like to address
these matters before holding the annual examinations, she added. The news
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'One bench to one student' demanded in coming exams
Karachi: Chairman All Private Schools Management Association,
Sindh chapter Syed Khalid Shah Friday appealed to Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul
Ibad Khan and Chairman Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) Anzar Zaidi
to allocate one bench to one student in the coming examinations. In a statement
here on Friday, he also demanded to establish more examination centres in big
schools of the city. He said that the examination date could be extended 15
days, if the BSEK faces problems in arrangements. Shah said that all private
schools would collect fees by March from class-X students. ppi
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BIEK dispatches mark sheets
Karachi: Controller of Examinations, Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK), Professor Agha
Akber Mirza on Friday said that the mark sheet of HSSC supplementary
examinations 2010 for private candidates of science group had been dispatched to
their residential addresses. The failure of supple exams 2010 (private
candidates of science group), who are eligible to appear at the HSSC annual
examinations 2011, are advised to submit their examination forms and fees at the
booth of the UBL, BIEK, he said. Meanwhile, these candidates could submit
examination forms without late fee from March 28 to April 7 and with late fee of
Rs200 from April 8 to April 14, he added. Moreover, such candidates could submit
forms with late fee of Rs500 from April 15 to April 19 and with late fee of
Rs1,000 from April 20 to April 23, Mirza said. Furthermore, all leftover private
candidates of science group could submit their forms with late fee of Rs1500
from April 25 to 28.
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SPLA threatens to boycott classes
Karachi: The Sindh
Professors and Lecturers' Association has demanded of the government to
immediately approve the summary of timescale and issue a notification in this
regard or else they would resort to boycotting classes. Addressing a
hurriedly-called press conference at DJ Sindh Government Science College on
Friday, President SPLA Mirza Athar Hussain said that if the government did not
issue the notification by April 21 then their association would boycott classes
from the next day across the province. He said that the students enrolled
at public sector colleges did not belong to elite class and they were very
serious to complete their terms on time, but the government did not seem serious
in solving teachers' problems and that was why the SPLA had been left with no
option but to resort to boycotting classes. "We will call a general body
meeting at DJ College on April 21 following which the SPLA members would march
towards Chief Minister House to press for their demands regarding timescale and
shortage of teaching staff at public sector colleges," he said.
He announced that the association would be holding general body meetings
and staging rallies outside any two public sector colleges of Sindh from March
26. He said that the government should fulfill its promises or else the
boycotting process may also upset the preparations and holding of annual
examinations in the province, he warned.
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30 college teachers bailed out
Karachi: Around 30 teachers of the public sector colleges were bailed out on personal surety of Rs5,000 each on
Friday. The 30 teachers of the public colleges along with their hundreds of
colleagues were marching towards Sindh Chief Minister House to stage a sit-in
for acceptance of their demands, were taken into police custody the other day.
All the 30 were produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate (South) Nadeem Badr
Qazi on Friday and were granted bail on personal surety of Rs5,000 each. The news
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Suspension of UHS VC demanded
Lahore: Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has demanded immediate suspension of
vice chancellor of University of Health Sciences Dr Hussain Mubashir Malik and
new appointment purely on merit. The PMA alleged that the VC had allowed his
son Imtiaz Mubashar, who has recently graduated from Wah Medical College to
appear in the four professional exams of the MBBS despite having an attendance
less than 75 percent. He not only allowed him to appear in all the exams in
violation of rules but also get medals and positions in a number of
subjects. The nation
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'Change in curricula must for tolerant society'
Lahore: Speakers at a discussion, underlining the importance of a tolerant society, stressed the need
for revisiting the curricula with an ultimate aim of sensitising the people of
the country to take care of the weak. The discussion was held at the
Dorab Patel Auditorium of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday.
Renowned artist and writer Salima Hashmi and prominent feminist activist
Nighat Said Khan, who was also the Executive Director of ASR Resource Centre
Pakistan, were among the key participants while some participants also spoke on
the occasion and put forward suggestions to achieve peace and supremacy of human
rights in the Pakistani society. Earlier, two different documentaries,
including the Bangladesh War of Liberation in 1971: "War Crimes 71" by Shahriar
Kabir and "Women and War" by Tarique and Catherine Masud, were screened,
highlighting the denial of the peoples' will in 1971, which led to the break-up
of the country. The Friday's programme was titled "Forty Years of Silence
1971-2011". According to Nighat Said Khan, Pakistan cannot move forward
unless it confronts the tragic past, saying the country must uphold the
international principles on war crimes and crimes against humanity. She
said in the first instance, Pakistan must make a public apology to the people of
Bangladesh. At the same time, it must hold those specifically responsible for
ordering or perpetrating the violence and suppression to its own citizens by
putting those responsible on trial even if they were no longer alive, she added.
She further said this would not only work towards restoring our own
humanity but would also establish that impunity would not be given under any
circumstances. Nighat Said Khan was of the view that giving impunity
whether to the military, paramilitary forces; police; non-state actors, those
responsible for communal and individual violence and crimes had led to a society
in which those with power were made to atone for their crimes. "Unless
this begins to happen, the history will repeat itself while Pakistan descends
into further chaos and uncertainty," she went on to say. She also said
it was unfortunate that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's speech in which he
categorically stated that religion had nothing to do with the state was not
being taught to the students. Salima Hashmi stressed the need for
questioning, saying "Everything should be questioned". She further said there
was a need to raise voice for the weak, adding it was unfortunate that the same
was not being highlighted by the curricula taught to the students. She went on
to say that bias and superiority were being promoted through education.
According to her, the media in Pakistan is not fully independent today,
saying: "An independent media is still a dream in the country."
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PU courtyard
Lahore: The White Pearl
Courtyard established at the Punjab University's College of Art and Design
(PUCAD) was inaugurated on Friday. The theme of the courtyard is peace and
beautiful pieces of artwork which haven painted on the back wall and contributed
by artist Iftikhar Butt. The courtyard was illuminated with white lights, white
paper doves and other art items. The news
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