PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday summoned the chairman and controller of examinations of the Peshawar Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education over the awarding of zero marks to a ninth-grade student in a Biology theory paper.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Babar Sattar heard a petition challenging the student’s zero marks in the Biology paper.
Counsel for the petitioner, Ameen-ur-Rehman Yousafzai Advocate, told the court that the petitioner was a ninth-grade student who had been awarded zero marks in the Biology theory examination.
Justice Ijaz Anwar asked what had happened in the matter. The student’s father informed the court that the issue had been resolved.
“Such matters cannot be resolved this way,” Justice Ijaz Anwar remarked.
The counsel representing the Peshawar Board explained that examination papers are assigned computer-generated codes when they are sent to the board. He said the student’s paper had inadvertently been assigned another number, resulting in the error.
Justice Ijaz Anwar expressed concern over the incident and questioned how many other students might have faced similar problems without being able to approach the court.
“This child was the son of a lawyer, so the matter came before the court and the mistake was discovered,” the judge remarked.
“How many other students may have suffered in this way? Not everyone can come to court. You are playing with the future of these children,” Justice Ijaz Anwar said.
He further observed that such cases were repeatedly being brought before the court, with students receiving fewer marks and the boards later attributing the problem to a mistake.
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The petitioner’s counsel said around 1.9 million students had applied for rechecking and that a fee of Rs1,500 was charged for rechecking a single paper.
The court directed that the student’s examination paper be produced before it and summoned the chairman and controller of examinations of the Peshawar Board to appear personally at the next hearing.
“Bring this child’s paper. The chairman of the board and the controller of examinations should also appear in person. You have made this a routine matter. We cannot let it go like this. Action will be taken against those responsible; only then will there be some improvement,” Justice Ijaz Anwar remarked.
The court subsequently summoned the chairman and controller of examinations of the Peshawar Board and adjourned the hearing.
