The Judicial Commission probing loopholes in the intermediate results on Friday said there should be no Aitchison school/college for the elite and all schools should be considered an Aitchison under a uniform education policy for all children.
The Judicial Commission headed by Lahore High Court Justice Shahid Saeed has almost completed recording statements and cross-examinations and has to draw a “conclusion.”
Saeed remarked that the Punjab government had made Daanish schools at selective locations in the province but ignored government schools in poor conditions. He said discrimination must be replaced by a uniform education policy. The inquiry commission on Friday recorded statements from former IT consultant Yousaf Samdhani, predecessor of Dr Majid Naeem, and JAP Chairman Azhar Saddique Advocate. Samdhani appeared before the commission and recorded the premise “haste makes waste” was behind the online systems’ problems. He said all examiners and IT staff were not trained to fill bubbles (a part of roll numbers slips) and untrained staff were handed the task of checking exams. He told the commission, “Ahad Cheema had forced the BISE chairmen, claiming the Chief Minister wanted the computerized examination system completed immediately.”
He said, quoting the verbal pressure of former secretary HED Ahad Cheema (sitting Lahore DCO), the board chairmen were forced to run the online system as soon as possible due to which they could not handle the registration and examination of thousands of students at the same time. He said he was appointed against Rs24,000 monthly as advisor/coordinator for the computerization of education boards and claimed a notification was issued by the Punjab boards’ committee chairmen (PBCC). However, later Dr Majid took control of the online system.
Private school owners had been affected by the online education system since it created a hurdle in their monopoly. He said private schools registered students late with the help of board’s employees having used using unfair means and that Judicial Activism Panel (JAP) chairman Azhar Saddique Advocate had submitted documents, including the petition against the appointment of Dr Majid Naeem. Saddique told the commission that Ahad Cheema was responsible for the collapse of online examination system. He said Cheema being a junior officer could not handle the system. Judicial Commission summoned Shumaila Jaafree, reporter at a private TV channel, to explain why she had made a documentary on Dr Majid Naeem while proceedings of the commission against him were underway. The judge snubbed her for airing the documentary. He warned her, “Do you know that you can be sent for jail for six month for the offence you have committed?”
The judge said, “you showed a fake letter on TV claiming that it was appointment letter of Dr Majid but no such letter was ever issued.” The judge said, “Private channels had started a race and did not hesitate before entering the bedrooms of people?” Mocking the role of the media, the judge said, “It appears the media is no longer the fourth pillar but it considers itself the third rather the first pillar of the state”. The reporter tendered a written apology to the judge, who spared her with a warning. The commission will continue its routine proceedings on Saturday (today).