DLP Report
PESHAWAR
Private Education Network (PEN) has raised serious concerns over the marking process of matriculation examinations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, urging the provincial government to take immediate corrective measures.
In a formal letter addressed to the Chief Secretary, PEN KP has raised strong objections to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Kohat’s decision to abandon the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) system in favor of manual marking.
The letter, signed by PEN’s provincial president Muhammad Saleem Khan and general secretary Tahir Amin Khan, calls the move a threat to educational transparency and fairness.
The organization emphasized that the shift to manual marking undermines the principles of educational justice and reintroduces risks such as bias, nepotism, and human error.
According to PEN, there were confirmed reports that temporary roll numbers were not being recorded on exam papers during the marking process, effectively removing the ability to trace scripts back to students or institutions.
The representatives of the network warned, has opened the door to potentially biased or manipulated results.
PEN further voiced concern over the financial implications of reverting to manual marking, noting that the additional cost is likely to be passed on to students and their families, many of whom are already burdened by rising educational expenses.
In its letter, the representative body of private educational institutions demanded that the marking process be restored to a mechanical and transparent system to ensure fairness and accuracy.
It also called for accountability measures against those responsible for the current irregularities, and stressed the need for long-term reforms to restore public trust in the province’s examination system.
Saleem Khan urged the government to treat the matter with urgency by launching an immediate investigation and implementing systemic reforms to safeguard the integrity of the academic evaluation process.
