KARACHI: Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (R ) Maqbool Baqar has decided to award 15 per cent extra marks to HSC part-I students of pre-medical, pre-engineering and general science faculties based on the recommendation of the Fact-finding Inquiry committee to overcome shortcomings.
The Chief Minister has formed a three-member “Fact-Finding Committee” to investigate the sudden decrease in passing percentages for students in the 2023 class XI results of the Board of Intermediate Education in Karachi. The committee consists of Vice Chancellor NED University Dr. Sarosh Lodhi (Convener), Executive Director IBA Karachi Dr. Akbar Zaidi and Secretary Sindh HEC Moinuddin Siddiqui as members.
The committee presented its recommendations to the chief minister in a meeting held at the CM House on Thursday evening. After thorough discussions and deliberations, the chief minister approved the recommendations and directed the chairman of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi to implement them in true letter and spirit.
It is recommended that the moderation of marks should take place only after completing the scrutiny of answer scripts by the existing committees.
The Chief Minister has directed the Chairman of BIEK to issue notices of displeasure to the Controller of Examinations (present and the incumbent who conducted the HSC-I Examinations 2023), all deputy controllers, and IT Managers. They are responsible for the conduct of examinations 2023 at BIEK and for their failure to observe rules and regulations.
According to the fact-finding committee, the IT Sections of the board are in a dire state of safety, security, housekeeping and professional manners. Therefore, the chief minister ordered the immediate removal of IT Head Mr Muhammad Shaheer Waqar from the position as he is not only incompetent but also unreliable to hold this important position.
The CM on the recommendation of the committee decided to moderate the announced results of HSC-1 pre-medical, pre-engineering and general science faculties only to overcome shortcomings. He directed the chairman BIEK awarding 15 per cent marks. The moderation of marks should only be carried out after completing the scrutiny of answer scripts by the existing Committees.
The faculty subjects to be given 15 per cent marks include Mathematics 15 marks, Physics/ Statistics 12 marks, Chemistry 12 marks, Botany 6 marks, Zoology 6 marks. According to the fact-finding Inquiry committee Examination Paper pattern and marking scheme shall be made available before the commencement of the academic session which would remain the same for at least three years.
The number of assessment centres would be increased to at least 10 to facilitate centralized assessment. This will ensure consistency and uniformity in assessment. The CM also ordered the BIEK to ensure the usage of OMR for the assessment of MCQs to eliminate human error and reduce assessment time.
On the recommendation of the committee, the CM ordered In-house training of head examiners, deputy head examiners, co-examiners, factotum and invigilators. Chief Minister Justice (R ) Maqbool Baqar directed Chairman BIEK to implement the recommendations as approved by him in letter and spirit and report to him.
