Persistent administrative interference, repeated changes in key positions and the appointment of an allegedly inexperienced official have plunged the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) into a serious crisis just days before the commencement of the matriculation examination, putting the academic future of hundreds of thousands of students at risk.
With the exams scheduled to begin on Tuesday (tomorrow), thousands of candidates are yet to receive their admit cards, raising serious doubts about the feasibility of conducting exams on time.
Sources revealed that the computerised admit card system has suffered a critical server failure, prompting the authorities to engage a private company for emergency data migration. However, despite overnight efforts, the alternative server has also failed to handle the load, leaving a significant number of students without access to their admit cards.
The situation has been further aggravated by a controversial last-minute appointment. Asif Chhutto, an inspector of colleges from the Larkana board, was appointed as controller of examinations in Karachi just four days before the exams, despite reportedly lacking the relevant experience in managing large-scale exam operations.
Education stakeholders have termed the decision “reckless” and “administratively unsound”. It has also emerged that an earlier attempt to post the same official at the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi had been resisted by employees, who held protests against what they described as a “non-professional and politically backed appointment”.
Questions are now being raised as to why the Sindh Universities & Boards Department has appointed four different controllers in Karachi within a single year, and why the same official is repeatedly favoured for key positions.
Meanwhile, the Grand Alliance of Private Schools Associations Sindh has urged the province’s chief minister to postpone the exams by at least a week, citing widespread delays. According to the alliance, admit cards for 50 to 70 per cent of the schools across various towns have not yet been uploaded to the official portal, while many of the issued cards contain errors that cannot be rectified within a day.
Pakistan Peoples Party District Central Education Committee Chairman Muhammad Hassan Khan also expressed concern, saying that a large number of schools are still unable to access admit cards through the official system.
Khan warned that inconsistencies and delays have created anxiety among students and parents, many of whom remain unaware of their designated exam centres, and have called for an immediate extension.
In a belated damage-control move, the BSEK issued a statement directing school representatives to collect admit cards manually from its office on Monday. However, observers argue that such ad hoc measures underscore systemic mismanagement rather than resolve the deepening crisis.
