Parha likha Punjab? ( well-educated Punjab is a govt. scheme)
By Anum Pasha

The day is Monday and the time 8:30am. Fear has gripped the lives of a swarm of students who are nonchalantly (naat!) donned for this occasion. This is an important juncture – one that coins the future take-home pay of many, one that decides the luxury limits of many, and one that most immediately assures enrollment at a prestigious university so as to preserve a role in the rat race at least.

This throng of students is also experiencing an acute intensity of hypertension. Whether to appear more apt or for last-minute revision purpose, each candidate possessively holds on to thin sheets of paper – paper at which fretful eyes cannot help but look intently. We know the Advanced Levels are categorised under the ‘difficult’ spectrum of exam-taking sessions but what most of us do not know is that the thin sheets of paper can be or maybe, are, the exam paper. Yes.

I took my A-levels last year and while at university, have been more or less detached from the whole system. Just recently, Taimur Bandey, an Economics professor at various schools, informed me about the leak of the A-level Economics Paper 4, which carries the maximum weightage in terms of grade, on June 5, 2007. Soon after, it was suspected that papers prior to the Economics Paper 4 were bought for lakhs and distributed all over that student body which had an effective demand for it. The question here is – who was bought? How many were bought? Which group – the schools, the tuition centers or the examining authority – had loopholes that allowed for such unethical acts? Are the culprits amongst the Pakistani nation best regarded on the international front as crusaders of terrorism and immorality? If yes, then what price was attached to the bought and sold? Funny – the essence of education is lost when only a handful of exam-takers rape all grounds of integrity, make hell the lives of blameless students, and use their pots of gold for fraudulent practices. Shame.

Pots of gold – where do these come from, then? One element of the Pakistani student body consists of those who have parents settled in comfy lil’ villages stocked with spanking-new technology while their darling babies are growing up in college/school. Growing up to get forged passports made for a few thousands in collaboration with some sleazy lil’ math teacher, getting some nerdy nincompoop to take their SATs and voila, the good life in the States has been conjured. I say, who is to blame then? Those heedless parents who deliver numerous cheques towards the well-being of their juvenile children who are one day, going to take charge of this underprivileged country? Or students who have fat wallets to shell out an A-levels paper?

I spoke to British Council’s Director Examination Lahore, Arzu Daniel and found out that both Cambridge International Examination (CIE) and the British Council will carefully consider the alleged irregularities and those who had not indulged in this cheat will not be penalised, rest assured. According to Arzu, the British Council has “checked” its “security measures” and the leakage has not come from there. I question, where did the “security measures” run off to when two percent of the student body did commit the crime?

The situation is almost ironic. We moved from matric and FA to attain a better educational experience but only found FA-pass invigilators at the Expo Center (an O/A level examination center). It is not entirely unbelievable that the sons of million-dollar guns may also buy off this party. .

A coordinator from a prestigious boys’ school recommended that since it is the British Council’s primary responsibility, the managers of this exam should be present in Pakistan for at least a month to handle affairs first-hand. Cool, but are we as a nation still going to behave well only under the danda of the Britishers? Probably yes.

In a country where the price of a person is assigned by the car he drives and the mobile he carries, the grassroots need to be targeted for any saviour-sort possibilities. I wonder, are the A/O levels such big threats to students that shortcuts are a must? Are we to blame teachers who appear thrice a week as part of the ‘visiting’ faculty so as to disperse the coursework needed for a single exam and dismiss class after the forty-five minutes are over? Much as I poke fun at the American stupidity, I salute the nation where the spirit of education is preserved throughout the year and not only within the imprisonment of a classroom. When my aunts move violently to put their ducklings in some celebrated girls’ school, I wonder if they know what they are in for. If one blames the British Council in entirety, they may have to think again. The system has been operating in Pakistan for years and one such tumult should not make us ponder on the lines of complete abolishment. If say, a new system is devised, what of that percent of ‘adults’ who love the life of juvenile crimes?

So seriously, what now? Injustice can be a minor adjective for the way countless, guiltless students who had no prior knowledge about the leaked papers feel currently – and of course they would, their lives are at stake and they don’t want to be penalised in consequence of the actions of some rich brats who didn’t have the intellect to pass without corruption. But then, why were the alleged even given the breathing space to buy off the top- secret matter? To repeat a quote I recently heard on television, our educational experience is one between the teacher, the student and the ayah. The absent parents now need to pay heed. Say, even if those who are suspected are heavily penalized, what of the years to come? What of parha likha Punjab and the big figures it announces? What of this country?