PESHAWAR: Despite securing an outstanding 1,177 marks out of 1,200, Summayya Ali, an orphaned student supported under the AlKhidmat Orphan Care Programme and studying at Iqra Model School, Charguli, Mardan, was denied the top position in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Mardan.
Instead, another student, Maheen Ayub of Girls Cadet College, Mardan, who secured 1,171 marks, was declared the overall board topper. All three top positions were secured by students of Girls Cadet College.
Sameera Imran and Fiza Zaman, also from the same college, secured the second and third positions with 1,166 and 1,165 marks, respectively, as the results were announced at a prize distribution ceremony on Thursday. Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mohammad Khalid was the chief guest at the ceremony. According to board authorities, Summayya Ali was declared ineligible for the top position because she had appeared in an improvement examination for Grade 9.
Talking to The News, BISE Mardan Controller of Examinations Mohammad Ayaz said the board had a strict policy regarding position holders.“Any student who appears in an improvement examination after the initial attempt automatically becomes ineligible for board positions,” he said, adding that the board treated all students equally and without discrimination.
However, educationists believe the policy has shortcomings and requires an immediate review. They argue that appearing in an improvement examination in one or two subjects to enhance academic performance should not deprive a student of due recognition, particularly when the student achieves exceptional results, maintaining that education boards maintain complete academic records of all candidates. Therefore, if an orphan or a student from a government school demonstrates extraordinary academic performance but is technically ineligible for a board position because of an improvement examination, the student should at least be invited to the award ceremony and presented with a commendation certificate as a gesture of encouragement, pleaded an educationist.
