The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) is facing backlash after failing to issue detailed mark sheets for over 175,000 Class IX students in the Science and General groups, leaving them uncertain about their marks and academic performance.
Announced last week, the results included only pass or fail status for each subject, without showing actual marks or total scores. According to BSEK officials, subject-wise mark sheets will be delayed by at least two weeks, preventing students from calculating percentages or assessing their overall standing.
The delay has drawn strong criticism from students, parents, and educators, who compared BSEK’s performance with Punjab’s education boards and Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) — both of which release full provisional mark sheets immediately after results.
Ironically, the controversy emerged as Karachi’s education boards met to discuss digital reforms, e-marking, and grading improvements. BSEK Chairman Ghulam Hussain Saho attended the meeting, highlighting digital progress, yet the failure to release basic mark sheets has raised doubts about those claims.
Sources said BSEK’s IT Manager Muhammad Irfan traveled to Islamabad with the chairman after the results were announced, leaving the newly appointed IT analyst Sain Dad unable to address technical problems. Controller of Examinations Hamza Tagar, who has served for three months, admitted the issue and promised a swift fix.
> “We are aware of the issues and working to resolve them. Students will be able to access their marks within a week,” Tagar told The Express Tribune.
Educationists described the incident as another example of administrative mismanagement, noting that Class IX mathematics papers, intended for e-marking, were manually checked despite major investments in e-marking-compatible materials.
