In Lower Dir, exam officials raided halls only to find a government schoolteacher arrested for solving papers during the ongoing secondary school certificate examinations, underscoring how institutions tasked with preserving merit are under siege. Nearby, in a private school, suspects were caught red-handed solving question papers before the scheduled time with the help of subject experts.
Almost four million students appear in secondary and higher secondary exams each year across 30 boards. These exams, meant to measure a child’s progress, now resemble a system where access matters more than ability. Papers circulate on WhatsApp. “Booti mafias” charge as little as Rs 1,000 per student for leaked papers and access to mobile phones inside halls. Last year, police in Karachi arrested an organised racket using WhatsApp groups to leak papers minutes before the exam, exposing a chain that runs from board clerks to photocopy shop owners to teachers.
The provincial education departments often respond with slogans like “cheating is the death of merit,” yet those slogans ring hollow because almost nothing has been done to enforce discipline. The sight of such impunity pulls even reluctant students into the same economy of shortcuts.
The scale of the racket became clearer when Punjab’s education minister admitted that his team had busted seven gangs linked to a private school network. The Lahore board now imposes a three-year prison sentence and a Rs 50,000 fine for anyone caught leaking exam papers. Sindh has announced watermarking and e-marking systems to trace leaks and banned phones, with complaint cells and Section 144 at centres. These measures signal recognition that invigilators alone cannot police the digital age.
Technology, however, is not a substitute for governance. Allegations that the recent medical and dental college admission test in Sindh was leaked three times online, with activists claiming 184 of 200 questions matched leaked versions and seats sold at up to Rs 1.5 million, show how quickly the system adjusts to scrutiny.
One crackdown will make headlines, but it cannot rewrite the script. Pakistan’s examination system mirrors its political economy: captured institutions, cynical citizens and shallow reforms. There are models worth emulating-the Aga Khan University Examination Board trains invigilators and monitors centres with CCTV and has built a reputation for fairness. Reform must start with randomised centre allocation, audit trails and penalties that are actually enforced. Unless parents, teachers and leaders confront the culture that celebrates cheating, the lesson many pupils will carry forward is simple: Dishonesty works. *