Daily Times

Reports last month of a leaked pre-entrance exam paper for medical schools in Sindh has damaged badly the reputation of the National Testing Service (NTS). The aforementioned had replaced education board exams; a process that was gradually phased out due to procedural flaws and a growing public trust deficit. Though we should not be too surprised at the lack of transparency when it comes to Pakistan’s education boards — given that their chairmen and other senior members are not appointed on a meritocratic basis. Indeed, the situation reached the point whereby students found it almost impossible to have their actual ability reflected accurately in exam board results. In a bid to circumvent this problem and address student concerns — professional colleges and universities came up with a system of pre-admission tests. Thus NTS is perhaps the first entity entrusted with holding these at a countrywide-level.

First launched back in 2006, it slowly expanded in scope and government departments started awarding contracts to this private firm to conduct written tests for candidates before the latter proceeded to the next stage of the interview process. Yet over a period of time, it became apparent that NTS was wavering from its determined path; meaning that on more than a few occasions certain candidates were scoring much higher marks than their ability would suggest was possible, especially in terms of oral examination performance.

Fast-forward to last month and the scandal in Sindh. Soon after the pre-entrance test had been held, murmurings on social media hinted that the paper’s answer key may have been leaked several hours ahead of time. And when NTS uploaded the results on its website — many, many anomalies were there for all to see. Thus students and parents alike came on to the streets to protest the situation. The media also took up the issue, reporting that students from particular families did much better than anyone else, despite this being beyond academic expectation.

The buck does not just stop with the NTS management. Meaning that government departments that have in the past used its services must declare null and void all current contracts, if investigation findings prove not to be in its favour. This is not as harsh as it sounds, especially given that NTS is presently being investigated by the FBR over possible tax evasion

So seriously are claims being taken of a possible leak that both the NAB and FIA are said to be investigating the matter. One positive sign is that the NTS management has already shown willingness in cooperating with these probes. And it is in its best interests to do so; meaning it has to find out if those ‘on the make’ go right up to management level or whether it is down to a single individual. And when the culprit is found — he or she should face due process. Towards this end, an interim investigation report, if suggesting that accusations of leaking test papers are, indeed, true, may be submitted to the relevant authorities. Meanwhile, re-sits can be scheduled; as happened in the Punjab when a similar incident took place.

Such instances of what is nothing less than malpractice — not only discourage those students who believe in meritocracy but also serve to compromise the quality of professional study in the field of medicine; which, naturally has a knock-on effect on the general public in terms of overall care received. When it comes to the medical profession — becoming qualified is a lengthy process and those students from poor socio-economic backgrounds usually only make it to medical colleges and universities by sheer dint of their hard work. Therefore it would only be right and proper to also investigate those students suspected of cheating. This would hopefully act as an effective deterrent. But the buck does not just stop there. Meaning that government department that have in the past used NTS services must declare null and void all current contracts, if investigation findings prove not to be in its favour. This is not as harsh as it sounds, especially given that NTS is presently being investigated by the FBR over possible tax evasion.

But the point is that those at the helm in Sindh cannot afford to overlook this matter. Not when this is not the first episode of its kind in the province. Indeed, just last year, the Supreme Court rejected the result of combined competitive examination conducted by the Sindh Public Service Commission, citing questionable transparency regarding conduct of said exam and the appointment of its chairman and several of its members in contravention of existing rules as major reasons. It is sad to admit that, here in Pakistan, institutional decay has long been rotting the system from within.

We have around 24 million children out-of-school in this country. And those that do manage to fight tooth and nail to make their way to higher education do so only to find that grades are for the taking, provided they are flush enough to flash the cash. This is why the NAB and FIA must take the issue of possibly leaked papers seriously. For if this is not corruption — then I do not know what is.

The writer is a freelance contributor. He blogs at https://malibaloch.wordpress.com/ and tweets @M_Abaloch

Published in Daily Times, November 8^th 2017.