The vigilance teams, formed to ensure transparency during the annual examinations of M.A currently being held at Karachi University, looked completely helpless in controlling the cheating mafia, it was learnt on Wednesday. The mafia was said to be fully active outside the examination halls, while the KU officials continue to be silent spectators, failing to take concrete measures to stop these illegal activities.
Setting up of the vigilance committee was aimed at making the examination process clean and transparent but it seemed that the committee members had allegedly bowed down before the "influential persons" who were patronising the mafia, sources said. Many students belonging to various student organisations were allegedly found exchanging hot words with the invigilators when they forced them to stay outside the examination centres. Some of the invigilators were also said to be receiving threatening calls from the student bodies.
A KU teacher told Business Recorder that according to the university rules, external candidates must keep copies of their CNICs and original enrolment cards but only 40 percent of the candidates were following the rules. "Whenever we try to stop cheating during exams, the powerful mafia intervene and misbehave with us. We cannot do any thing because they have the support of various political parties backed students groups," the teacher said.
The teacher demanded that there should be effective visits of vigilant teams and strict action should be taken against those involved in illegal activities. A large number of students were caught red handed while using unfair means during the annual external examinations of MA Part-I&II, but sources claimed that only few students were punished while majority of the cases were resolved after the palms of the KU administration were allegedly greased. Some invigilators were even beaten by students.
These elements are a threat to the hard working students and honest teachers, as their presence would benefit the candidates who believe in cheating, a lecturer said, demanding stern action against those patronising the cheating culture. An invigilator said that there was no security for the teachers who were placed for inspection, due to which they felt insecure.
He demanded that the university should involve law enforcement agencies for maintaining law and order during the examinations. The KU administration has established examination centres for the male candidates in different departments including Applied Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Zoology, Pharmacy, Computer Science, Mathematics,, Petroleum Technology, Geology, Chemistry,, Education, General History,, Urdu, Political science, Centre of Excellence for Women Studies, Library and Information Sciences, Geography, and Islamic learning.
When contacted KU Deputy Controller Examination Qamar Alam, he said that they had set up a vigilance committee comprising 40 teachers. He was clueless when asked how many candidates had been caught while using unfair means and what steps the varsity administration had taken against them. On the other hand, candidates expressed concern over lack of facilities and security measures in the examination centres. They said that the university had failed to provide transport facilities to the candidates within the campus, forcing the students to walk long distances on foot.