Uzma Yousuf, director of Cambridge International Education Pakistan, has said that Cambridge has introduced a comprehensive system of scrutiny to make the examination system transparent, under which every O and A level student can see his/her scrutinized copies on grade complaints.
She was talking exclusively to The News on Friday. Cambridge’s Communication Manager Arsalan Rabbani and Manager PR Mujtaba Gilani were also present on the occasion. Uzma Yousuf further said that the British Council has given every school the right to see the scrutinized copies of A and O level examinations. If the affected student has a complaint of low grades, he/she can apply to the concerned school and see his/her copies. If there is any mistake in the copy or marks, it will be corrected and his/her fee will also be refunded. Private candidates can approach the British Council to see their examination copy.
Uzma Yousuf said that there are 850 Cambridge-affiliated schools in Pakistan, of which Karachi alone has more than 250. She said that the largest number of students taking A and O-level exams in the world belongs to Pakistan, where 130,000 children are enrolled in Cambridge, but only 50 schools from Primary to Middle are affiliated with Cambridge.
Uzma Yousuf said that there is a lot of pressure from the curriculum on children from first to eighth grade in Pakistan, while the school bags of children are very heavy and sometimes they are so heavy that they cannot be lifted by the children and their backs bend, so there is a need to reduce the curriculum and lighten the school bags.
She said that the leakage of examination papers is a global problem, which has been controlled by strict measures; however, in the United States, USMLE papers were also leaked, while we have also taken action against those who leaked papers.
In response to a question, she said that the experience of stabilising schools examination centers without the British Council was good. We will stabilising more schools examination centers. She said that in A and O level examinations, candidates are accompanied by their parents or siblings, which causes problems of lack of space and traffic jams.
Uzma Yousuf denied that Cambridge examination fees are high and said that Pakistan pays the lowest fee while the value of the rupee is gradually decreasing against the British pound. She appreciated the interest of Federal Education Minister Dr. Khalid Maqbool in education and said that she always had a positive meeting with him.
While recounting the meeting with Sindh Education Minister Sardar Ahmed Shah, she said he wants to establish a government O level school in every district so that poor students can also get Cambridge education; however, the most important aspect for this is the training of teachers.
According to her, starting the O-Level programme will require several reforms from Early Childhood Education to Grade 8 so that children can be mentally and academically prepared for this system.
