Source : http://thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=35127&Cat=8
Media images of students wanting to take their Matriculation examination on Monday but unable to because they have not been issued with a roll number tell a shameful story. A private TV channel said that as many as 40,000 students in Rawalpindi alone had no roll number, and there were many thousands of others similarly let down in Multan and other towns and cities across Punjab. The Lahore High Court has issued a notice to the Education Board over the mismanagement of the Matriculation Exams and the EB is now trying to place the blame for the lack of roll-numbers on the students themselves; saying that many had filled in forms incorrectly online.
This latest cock-up in the education sector opens a very large can of worms, both today and for years into the future for those unfortunate enough to have been caught up in this appalling catalogue of error. There will now be students who have sat the exam without a roll-number who are going to have difficulty proving it was they who took the exam when it comes to claiming results. How can any result of a ‘second shift’ of students in the evening be judged as fair to all when the students who sat in the morning may have a chance to talk to those who are to sit in the evening? And given the ubiquity of SMS-enabled phones in the hands of today’s youth, is it not reasonable to assume that questions and answers are going to be flicking back and forth across the ether? With an emerging culture of verification in all things academic this could be very bad news even for those who are entirely innocent of any malpractice. Some students may have made a mistake filling their forms online – but 40,000? No, the fault lies with the Education Board, not the students, and reeks of chronic incompetence – an incompetence that should be rewarded with an immediate sacking. It will never happen of course and once again our young people have been blighted by the very system that was supposed to serve them.
Media images of students wanting to take their Matriculation examination on Monday but unable to because they have not been issued with a roll number tell a shameful story. A private TV channel said that as many as 40,000 students in Rawalpindi alone had no roll number, and there were many thousands of others similarly let down in Multan and other towns and cities across Punjab. The Lahore High Court has issued a notice to the Education Board over the mismanagement of the Matriculation Exams and the EB is now trying to place the blame for the lack of roll-numbers on the students themselves; saying that many had filled in forms incorrectly online.
This latest cock-up in the education sector opens a very large can of worms, both today and for years into the future for those unfortunate enough to have been caught up in this appalling catalogue of error. There will now be students who have sat the exam without a roll-number who are going to have difficulty proving it was they who took the exam when it comes to claiming results. How can any result of a ‘second shift’ of students in the evening be judged as fair to all when the students who sat in the morning may have a chance to talk to those who are to sit in the evening? And given the ubiquity of SMS-enabled phones in the hands of today’s youth, is it not reasonable to assume that questions and answers are going to be flicking back and forth across the ether? With an emerging culture of verification in all things academic this could be very bad news even for those who are entirely innocent of any malpractice. Some students may have made a mistake filling their forms online – but 40,000? No, the fault lies with the Education Board, not the students, and reeks of chronic incompetence – an incompetence that should be rewarded with an immediate sacking. It will never happen of course and once again our young people have been blighted by the very system that was supposed to serve them.
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