Article:In response to concerns over the sudden decrease in passing percentages for students in the 2023 class XI results of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK), Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (R) Maqbool Baqar has taken decisive action to address the issues. Following the recommendations of a Fact-Finding Committee, Justice (Retd) Maqbool Baqar has decided to award an additional 15 per cent marks to HSC part-I students of pre-medical, pre-engineering, and general science faculties. This measure aims to overcome shortcomings identified in the examination process. The three-member Fact-Finding Committee, led by Vice Chancellor NED University Dr. Sarosh Lodhi, presented its recommendations to the Chief Minister, who approved them after thorough discussions.
The committee members include Executive Director IBA Karachi Dr. Akbar Zaidi and Secretary Sindh HEC Moinuddin Siddiqui. Additionally, the Chief Minister has directed the Chairman of BIEK to issue notices of displeasure to the Controller of Examinations and all deputy controllers involved in the 2023 HSC-I Examinations for their failure to observe rules and regulations. Furthermore, in response to concerns regarding the state of the IT Sections of the board, the CM has ordered the immediate removal of IT Head Muhammad Shaheer Waqar from his position due to incompetence and unreliability.
The moderation of marks will be carried out only after completing the scrutiny of answer scripts by existing committees. Mathematics, Physics/Statistics, Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology subjects will be awarded additional marks according to the committee’s recommendations. To ensure consistency and uniformity in assessment, the number of assessment centres will be increased to at least 10.
Additionally, the usage of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) for the assessment of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) will be enforced to eliminate human error and reduce assessment time. Furthermore, the Chief Minister Maqbool Baqar has ordered in-house training for head examiners, deputy head examiners, co-examiners, factotum, and invigilators based on the committee’s recommendation. The Chief Minister has directed the Chairman of BIEK to implement the approved recommendations in letter and spirit and report to him accordingly.
