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Board of Secondary Education, Karachi

Until a few years before partition, Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in the Province of Sindh was controlled by the University of Bombay. The University of Sindh was established in April 1947 at Karachi and it took over the control and regulation of Secondary as well as Higher Secondary Education in the province of Sindh from the Bombay University. In the early post-partition period, Karachi remained the seat of Capital both of the Centre and the Province, but then Hyderabad was chosen to serve as seat of Government for the Province of Sindh in consequence of which the University of Sindh at Karachi had to be shifted to Hyderabad. With a view to filling up the gap arising out of the shifting of the University of Sindh to Hyderabad, the Central Legislature passed two acts in the year 1950 one for creating a residential University for Karachi and the other (known as the Karachi Secondary Education Act No.XVI of 1950) for controlling education from class VI to X.

The board of Secondary Education, Karachi was thus established in the year 1950. Mr. M. Sultan Mohyuddin was appointed as its first President. The Board started functioning in the three roomed ground floor of a residential house at Fatima Jinnah Colony, off Jamshed Road, with a skeleton staff consisting of 3 or 4 persons only. The Board held its first examination in 1951 for which only 1461 examinees were registered. To begin with, the Board had no option but to adopt the curriculum and courses of studies prescribed by the University of Sindh which in itself and to a great extent was an adaptation of the curriculum and the syllabi in the year 1962, and the first examination conducted by the Board under its own curriculum and the syllabi was in the year 1956. Thereafter the Board continued to develop and control Secondary Education right from Class VI to Class X. From 1956 up to 1962 the Board conducted two examinations, namely Secondary School Leaving General and Secondary School Leaving Technical Examinations, which were held twice in a year, i.e. Annual and Supplementary. During this period the process the process of developing the curriculum and revising the syllabi continued in the light of the experiences gained and the circumstances prevailing. From 1955 upto the end to the year 1960 the office of the Board was housed in a rented building at 1st Chowrangi Nazimabad. Thereafter it was shifted to PECHS.

As a result of the report submitted in 1959 by Commission on National Education (generally known as Sharif Commission Report) University Education was bifurcated into Higher Secondary (Intermediate) and Degree Education. In 1961 the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi was directed by the Secretary and the Ex-officio Adviser to Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Education to take over charge of intermediate Education from the University of Karachi. The then President Professor Qaiser Hussain Khan Bakhtiari took over charge on 2nd November, 1961.

On 8th January, 1962 the then West Pakistan Government replaced the Karachi Secondary Act XVI of 1950 by promulgating an Ordinance known as West Pakistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Karachi. Ordinance No. III of 1962. By this Ordinance intermediate Education was transferred to the Board and the designation of the President was changed as Chairman. Professor Qaiser Hussain Khan Bakhtiari took over as first Chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Karachi.

The Newly constituted Board conducted its first S.S.C. and H.S.C. Examination in May, 1962 for 17,000 and 8,000 examinees respectively. By this time the Board had 133 recognized schools, as against 31 in 1951, and 21 affiliated Colleges.

The residential building in PECHS where the office of the Board was shifted from Nazimabad in December, 1960 was no more sufficient due to taken over of the intermediate Education from the University. As the pace of progress and development, was very quick, two residential building in proximity to the old one, were taken on rent immediately to accommodate all the sections of the Board. Thereafter a plot of land was procured in Nazimabad and construction of a three-storied ultra modern building benefiting the requirements of the most important educational organization was taken in hand. The building was completed in September, 1965 and the Board started functioning in the new premises from the same month.

On break-up of one unit an Ordinance to amend the West Pakistan Board (Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Karachi) Ordinance 1962 was promulgated on 26th January, 1971, by the Governor of Sindh which was called West Pakistan (Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Karachi) (Sindh Amendment) Ordinance 1971.

On 19th April, 1972 the governor of Sindh promulgated another Ordinance known as the Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education Ordinance No VI, 1972 which was further amended by Amendment Act No. 20 of 1973 and Amendment Act No. 10 of 1974 of government of Sindh. On the constitution and establishment of the board under the said Ordinance, the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Karachi, Ordinance 1962 (West Pakistan ordinance No. III of 1962) as amended, stood repealed. Consequently the board of intermediate and Secondary Education, Karachi. The Board of Secondary Education, Karachi remained in the old premises whereas the Board of Intermediate Education was housed in the Hostel building of Bakhtiari Youth Centre which was also got constructed by Late Professor Bakhtiari in 1970. Mr. Rustom V. Divecha, Chairman of the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi and Mr. M.I Memon was appointed as first Chairman of the Board of intermediate Education, Karachi.

The two boards started function from 1st February, 1974. The number of candidates who appeared of SSC Examination of the bifurcated Board in 1974 was 39684 in Part-I (Class IX) and 36229 in Part-II (Class X). Since then the figure has gone up to 101404 in Part-I (Class IX) and 87077 in Part-II (Class X) in 1993. In view of large and over increasing number of examinees, necessity of computerizing examination results had been felt for quite some time back. The Board, therefore, took up this project in hand in the year 1982\3. After going through many exercises, trials and testing first on mini computer, the board purchased a main frame computer in March, 1985. The approach of the Board towards the project remained one of careful analysis, in depth study, avoiding risks and finally taking bold decisions. In accordance with usual practice, when such large scale manual procedures are computerized the Board also prepared SSC results manually so as to ensure against any unforeseen mishaps.

By the Grace of God the Board was able to construct SSC Annual Examination 1986 results on computer. It was for the first time in Pakistan that the results on such a large scale were constructed successfully on main-frame computer, thus The Board of Secondary Education Karachi Entered the Computer Age.

In due course of time, the Board intends to utilize further its compute for the following academic purposes:

• Detailed statistical analysis of examination results, which will provide useful feedback to teachers, students and educationists to take necessary measures for improving the performance of students.

• Storing of hundreds of objective test items and development of objective tests to be used in the Board's Examinations and generating several parallel forms of a paper so as to discourage cheating at examination centers.

• Scoring of objective tests by using machine storable answer sheets for speedy and accurate declaration of results.