Karachi matric exams to be held in two phases due to census

MUHAMMAD SHAFA

KARACHI: Chairman of Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) Professor Dr Saeeduddin said on Sunday that the exams of matriculation would be held in two phases from March 28 to May 3, 2017 because of shortage of teachers who will remain busy in the Census-related duties.

In the first phase, the annual examinations of matriculation General Group Regular and Private will be held from March 28 to April 15, he said speaking at a press conference at (BSE) aka Board Office, here.

He said that in the second phase, Science Group examinations would be held from April 15 to May 3, as per decision made by the provincial standing committee on education.

All arrangements have been made. For the first time, five Hub Centers have been established to ensure the timely provision of students admit cards and date sheets in five districts Karachi this year, he said.

It is relevant to mention here that national population census will begin on Wednesday, March 15 across the country where teachers will perform duties along with army.

This year, some 353,466 students will appear in the class 9th and 10th General and Science Group examinations, some 5 percent higher numbers as compared to the last years participation.

Some 45,182 students will appear in examinations of Class IX and X General Group. 82 examination centers have been set up, of which, 49 are for girls while 33 are for boys across.

Similarly, some 308,280 students will appear in the examinations of Science Group. Of which 150,801 candidates will appear in the exams of class IX whereas 157,479 students will appear in class X exams.

As many as 318 examination centres have been established for Science Group, of which some 172 centers have been designated for boys while rest of 145 for girls. The centers include 196 government and 122 private schools.

The BSE chairman said that the NJV Government Boys Secondary School on MA Jinnah Road has been declared Hub center for the District South, advising the students living in Lyari, Saddar and Keamari areas to get their date sheets and admit cards from that centre.

Similarly, the SITE Model Government Boys Secondary School has been declared Hub Center for the District West that includes areas of SITE, Orangi, and Baldia Town.

Likewise, Kulsum Bai Valika Model School and College Terminal No-1 Airport has been declared Hub Center for District East that includes areas of Jamshed Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Shah Faisal Colony Korangi.

Same way, Dehli Government Boys Secondary School Karimabad has been declared Hub Center for District Central that includes North Nazimabad, New Karachi, Gulberg, and Liaqatabad towns. Government Boys Secondary School Saudabad A Area Kala Board Malir has been declared Hub Center for District Malir that covers the areas of Gadap, Malir, Bin Qasim and Landhi towns.

In order to have a proper check during the exams, a monitoring cell has also been established alongside vigilant teams of teachers. These teams will conduct surprise visits of various centres and will be bound to submit reports on a daily basis, he said. Commissioner Karachi, Deputy Commissioners, DIGs, SDMs/Assistant Commissioners will also be the part of those teams.

The BSE chairman said that on his request, the district administration has agreed to impose section 144 in all the examination centres so that the papers can be held smoothly, fairly and transparently.