Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Pakistan: Scorching heat, outages and exams

Ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) Part-I & II Annual Examinations have become a nightmare for students who are forced to appear in the papers during scorching heat while 70 to 80 per cent examination centres face loadshedding.
As mercury levels of Karachi hits 42 degree centigrade students are students facing intense problems in attempting their exams. On the other hand K-Electricity is also showing no mercy for students, teachers and other staff managing papers as loadshedding continues at exam centres.
BIEK Controller Examination Imran Khan Chishti told The Nation that almost 70 to 80 per cent of 108 examination centres, formed are in the grip of power failure. More than 200,000 candidates are enrolled in the intermediate examinations.
According to reports, many candidates had fainted during the exam while other candidates were seen sweating excessively. Talking about the issue, Prof Iftikhar Azmi, central leaders of Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA), condemned the apathetic behavior of the K-Electricity, and said that the government should have played its due role.
“I am shocked over the behavior of the provincial government, which has no influence on the policies of K-Electricity towards loadshedding especially during the papers of intermediate examinations,” Areeb, a candidate suffering from loadsheeding in the papers. Exam centres face external threats: According to reports of different examination centres, prepared by BIEK, external elements are trying to influence various examination centres to facilitate cheating mafia in the absence of the Police and Rangers.
Following the reports, Chairman BIEK Prof Anwar Ahmed Zai has contacted officials of police and rangers, and requested them to deploy more personnel around the examination centres during papers.
BIEK Controller Examination Imran Khan Chishti said that during the surprise visit of special vigilance teams as many as 32 candidates were caught red-handedly while using unfair means in the papers held on Tuesday.

No comments: