Prof Dr Shuja Ahmed Mahesar
EDUCATIONAL boards were established to conduct fair examinations and ensure transparent results.
Unfortunately, most boards across the country have failed miserably to maintain their credibility and reliability. In Sindh, declining educational standards are largely attributed to the poor performance of these boards. Their inability to create a fair and modern system of assessment has undermined both merit and excellence. One of the foremost challenges is poor governance. The absence of permanent leadership in key roles—such as chairmen, secretaries, controllers and audit officers—has created uncertainty and instability. Internal conflicts, fueled by political interference and unprofessional behavior, have further paralyzed the boards. Powerful groups, aligned with political figures, often use their influence for personal gain while ignoring institutional development. Litigation arising from these disputes has multiplied, with legal advisors often failing to protect the boards’ interests due to their collusion with conflicting staff members.
Another critical issue is the lack of effective oversight. The controlling authorities have not adequately monitored the boards and no system exists for effective coordination among them to resolve shared challenges. Ad-hoc appointments, lack of transfers and postings from one board to another and weak internal administration have fostered inefficiency, misconduct and red tape.Financial instability adds to the crisis. Many boards are struggling to survive due to mismanagement of funds, overstaffing and overdependence on limited income sources such as examination, enrollment and verification fees. Delays in government grants, coupled with weak accounting, auditing and financial management systems, raise serious concerns about their long-term sustainability.
The boards’ failure to uphold merit has caused severe damage. Unfair practices at examination centers, often facilitated by contractor mafias, have led to widespread corruption. Assessments conducted by untrained and unprofessional staff produce flawed evaluations that penalize deserving students while promoting mediocrity. Result tampering for monetary gain, sometimes under bureaucratic cover, has further eroded public trust. The absence of standardization, checks and balances and uniform policies has encouraged malpractices, generating highly inflated grades. Students securing such grades often perform poorly in entry tests, undermining the credibility of boards. Observations indicate that boards primarily assess lower-order cognitive skills, while entry tests measure higher-order abilities. To bridge this gap, research on assessment patterns and results is essential. Moreover, adopting digital technology is crucial to minimize subjectivity, enhance transparency and restore public confidence in the evaluation process.
Automation offers a clear pathway to transparency, effectiveness and accountability (TEA) in educational boards. Currently, most boards lack indigenous IT infrastructure and depend on private companies for technology adoption. To ensure transparency, boards must develop their own IT systems, secure sensitive data and automate examination, assessment and financial processes. Digitalization would reduce leakages, limit agent mafia influence and restore public trust. An integrated in-house system should include digital data storage, cloud-based backups and dashboards for real-time monitoring to track progress, identify issues and support data-driven decision-making. Digitizing assessments requires e-marking, OMR evaluation and development of item banks and rubrics, paving the way for future use of artificial intelligence. A dedicated portal for enrollment, online applications and certificate verification would further enhance fairness, reliability and efficiency across all board operations.
During the recent two-day workshop on digitalization and technology integration at the Federal Board Islamabad (23–24 October), participants emphasized that successful digital transformation of examination boards requires strong government support. They recommended developing provincial data centers and providing essential IT equipment, including scanners, paper-cutting machines, power backups, high-speed internet, barcode and QR code devices for script tracking and a digital attendance and monitoring system (DAMS) to prevent impersonation. On-screen marking was highlighted as a way to save time and reduce assessment costs, while a balanced format of 50% MCQs and 50% short and long questions would further cut paper usage and accelerate results. However, board chairmen stressed that automation alone cannot yield desired outcomes; comprehensive capacity-building initiatives are essential to equip staff with the skills required to manage and sustain digital systems effectively.
To truly play their role in improving education, boards should also be engaged in academic development by organizing science fairs, awarding scholarships, arranging training workshops, conferences and seminars and improving library facilities to promote reading culture. Equally, boards must encourage extracurricular activities by fostering sports culture and supporting colleges in organizing events. Human capital—the knowledge, skills, of people has become a critical driver of effectiveness at workplace. However, many boards, continue to face challenges in enhancing the quality of human resources due to inadequate training facilities, limited coordination, inadequate integration of technology, skill mismatches with workplace demands and insufficient focus on lifelong learning. Without urgent reforms, educational boards will remain a symbol of inefficiency and corruption. With effective governance, financial discipline, automation, academic initiatives and digital leadership however, they can become engines of merit, innovation and excellence once again to save the future of Pakistan’s youth.
—The writer is Professor of History and Pakistan Studies & Chairman, Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education Hyderabad.
