Committee finds widespread irregularities in 2022, 2023 Inter exams

The three-member investigation committee established to investigate irregularities in the results of the examinations conducted by the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) has found widespread irregularities in the results of the annual examinations of the intermediate year 2022 during the tenure of former chairman board Dr Saeeduddin and sent a report to the caretaker chief minister of Sindh.

This committee was established under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Inspection Team Rafiq Ahmed Buriro, and its members included Special Secretary Finance Shah Mir Khan Bhutto and Director Anti-Corruption Shahzad Fazal Abbasi. The committee has revealed in its report that during the course of its investigation, alteration/tampering/deduction of results has been detected.

The report said that irregularities in the annual examination 2023, i.e. use of answer scripts without security features, have also been found, which increases the possibility of tampering with HSC examination 2023 results by changing the answer scripts. Further, evidence of tampering with the 2022 exam results was also allegedly destroyed during the tenure of respective supervisors and sectional heads (keepers of records) of Pre-Engineering and Pre-Medical groups.

The report said that according to the facts learnt from the controller exams, deputy controller exams, and assistant controller exams, and collected incomplete records and their recorded statements, tampering with the award lists was found in Pre-medical science groups annual exams 2022.

Many cases have been discovered, in which marks in the award list were deducted and the marks of students in various subjects were inflated, with almost the same/unified marks. The report has attached the details of marks raised and copies of the award list in which the deduction of marks was found done. Besides, a review of the examination case list of the HSC annual examinations 2021 and 2022 in both Pre-engineering and Pre-medical groups showed an extraordinary increase in the marks of students.

The report said that during the immediate investigation, it was revealed that before the investigation came to hand, another inquiry was conducted on the direction of the secretary, Universities and Boards Department, Government of Sindh, but its recommendations were not followed.

The report also stated that discrepancies/ tampering/deduction in the results of Pre-medical section have been discovered in the HSC Annual Examination 2022. The same fact was also discovered by the former inquiry committees as discussed above. Further, the then chairmen BEIK Saeeduddin and Naseem Memon failed to implement the recommendations of the former inquiry committees against delinquent officers of the BIEK. Moreover, irregularities in the HSC Annual Examination 2023, i.e., use of answer scripts without having security features, have also been found, which raises chances of tampering with results of the HSC Annual Examination 2023 through replacement of answer scripts.

Moreover, the report said, evidence regarding tampering with results of the 2022 exam was also destroyed during the tenure of the then chairman, controller examination, and relevant supervisors and sectional heads (custodian of record) of Pre-engineering and Pre-medical groups, i.e. controller examination, deputy controller examination, assistant controller examination, and sectional heads.

During the examination of Pre-medical group's annual 2023 answer scripts, it was found that a number of answer scripts was used in the exam which did not have security features, i.e. controller exam or QR code. The signatures were missing; therefore, it can be largely assumed that tampering with unauthorized answer scripts was done to benefit favoured candidates.