Fresh from the fiasco of the Matriculation results, students are now facing another dilemma as they apply to colleges for Intermediate studies in the absence of a uniform date for the opening of admissions and issuance of merit lists, coupled with a massive amount of candidates requesting rechecking of their papers because of alleged wrong marking.
Students were left stranded in an academic limbo with many awaiting a revised mark and others scrambling to apply to colleges, all of which seem to have different dates for admissions and merit lists.
Many students’ documents are still incomplete because of the delayed announcement of matric results and revisions, and this fact does not make things easier in a highly competitive environment where colleges only pick the cream of the crop. Character certificates and result cards, among other necessary documents, have proven to be excruciatingly difficult for students to obtain from their alma maters.
Omair, a student applying to colleges for Intermediate studies, told Pakistan Today that every college had announced a different date for admissions and merit lists. “Because of limited seats and tough competition, I have to apply to several colleges and I hope I will get admitted to one,” he said.
Faiza, another student, said she had to pay fees to her back-up colleges in order to reserve a seat, but the fees would not be refunded if she were accepted to the college she actually wanted to attend.
Meanwhile, the woes of Matriculation students are far from over, as a week after the announcement of results a massive number of unsatisfied candidates have simultaneously applied for revised marks. Candidates have to pay Rs 700 for their papers to be rechecked.
Students claimed that in some subjects there was no mark written on result cards at all. Even if the “objective type” and “practical” mark was on the result card, the theoretical portion was empty, and vice versa in some cases. Sources told Pakistan Today that approximately 10,000 results were still to be announced, and students blamed the newly introduced online system for the results being deferred.
Dr Majeed Naeem, who is responsible for the online system, has come under heavy criticism for the failure of the online system and the subsequent delay in the results. Lahore Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Chairman Akram Kashmiri told Pakistan Today that the board was working “in a hostile environment” for the elimination of substandard marking and to introduce the rechecking system. Akram said when candidates applied for rechecking, the board called the particular examiner who had previously checked the papers and they recounted the mark and checked if any portions were left unmarked. He said students should bear in mind that the board merely rechecked the papers for marking mistakes and did not reassess them.
BISE Public Relations Officer Qaiser Virk said rechecking papers was a routine matter and every student had the right to request a rechecking if they were not satisfied with the mark they had received.
A student who asked not to be named said the board “is playing with our future” and was busy minting money with the rechecking fees. He said the mistake was in the computerised system of the board, but students were paying for it.
