Daily Times

Sir: This is regarding the protest by A-level students against the UHS checking of their papers. Firstly, I must applaud the young students involved for taking a constructive and non-violent approach to redressing their issues. That said, I find it hard to understand why there should be any major difference between Cambridge checking and FSc checking. Surely the knowledge that they are being examined for is the same irrespective of the checking standard. Thus if the paper involved a question on the number of limbs in the human anatomy, the correct answer would be four according to both checking standards. This seems a weak excuse.

I also have a severe problem with the classic “this was not in our syllabus” argument. When this excuse is invoked, the blame is shared by two parties. First and foremost it is fault of the educational institution that has trained the students, because it made them incapable of applying their knowledge and intellect to a problem not previously faced. Of course, the students also are to blame because they always focus on passing exams rather than acquiring knowledge. Thus they never learn to apply their knowledge to anything, and wind up like the majority of Pakistan’s “educated” segment which is “well read but illiterate”.
Of course, the exam results should be null and void based on the fact that calculators were not permitted and that the exam started 40 minutes late. I only wish the students had stuck to the last two complaints instead of putting forth other arguments that actually hold very little or no water.
HASSAN KILDE BAJWA
Lahore