Students up in arms against Punjab government

Intermediate students, including girls, continued to protest against the Punjab Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) across the province on Saturday against errors and omissions in the recently-announced computerised FSc results, as Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif stepped in to control the chaos, ordering the cancellation of results for four boards and a judicial inquiry against those responsible for the mismanagement.
Hundreds of students belonging to various private and government colleges of Lahore, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin and Rahim Yar Khan protested against the errors in the results, saying it was an unpardonable act by officials of the board, as they had destroyed the future of many students. In Gujranwala, blunders in the computerised results for Intermediate Part-I examination announced by the Punjab Board enraged students, who stormed the Gujranwala BISE office and set the building on fire, destroying tonnes of official record as well.
The cancellation of intermediate result by the Punjab government was the first such move in the country’s history. The results have been cancelled for the boards in Lahore, Gujranwala, Multan and Faisalabad and according to Punjab Education Minister Mujhtaba Shujaur Rahman, the results would be declared within two months and students would be charged nothing for rechecking.
This all happened as intermediate students protested along the Canal Bank Road and later outside the BISE Lahore office, burning pictures of the Punjab CM and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and shouting slogans against them, saying the CM’s poor policy had destroyed the education system in the province and the cancellation of the result had exposed the poor education policy of the Punjab government.
Protestors also demanded the resignation of the education minister, saying he was incapable of running the ministry. The Gujranwala demonstration started at about 9am outside the BISE office. However, almost 40,000 angry students stormed the office and ransacked the building. Students also broke the windows and totally destroyed the computer room. The protesting students wielded batons and raised full-throated slogans against officials of the Education Department.
Police was also pelted with stones when they tried to bring the situation under control. DCO Nabeel Awa n stepped in to cool down the agitated students, but it was too late and even baton charge by police could not stop them from damaging the building. Subsequently, police fired tear gas shells at the demonstrators that resulted in injuries to several students. The students also blocked the city’s main roads and demanded an immediately rectification of results, warning of to move court in case that did not happen.
Munir Sial, a student, told Pakistan Today that incompetent authority was playing with the future of the students and were least concerned about the faulty results. Another student, Shabbir said it was a conspiracy to earn money from students under the garb of exam rechecking.
Gujranwala BISE Chairman Mehar Bashir said the ransacking was a pre-planned conspiracy by the private school mafia, whose students failed to score good marks. He said, “We are not 100 percent correct, but burning the record and setting ablaze the building was not the way to register a protest.”
The protest also spread to Multan, where scores of students staged a protest demonstration outside the Multan BISE office against errors in results. The students were carrying banners and chanting slogans against board officials. The demonstrators tried to enter the office, but the administration and guards managed to stop them outside. Farukh Habib, President of Insaaf Students Federation said the Punjab CM should resign, as the cancellation of result proved how capable he was.
He said the PML-N recruited Dr Majid Naeem, a relative of Ishaq Dar, as IT consultant for BISE just to loot the public’s money and the entire student body had suffered due to Punjab government’s faulty policies.