KARACHI, April 5: The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) annual examinations 2012 began on Thursday amid complaints of loadshedding and inadequate security at a majority of examination centres established in government and private schools across the city.

There were mixed reports about the use of unfair means during the exams. Independent sources said students resorted to use of unfair means on the first day of the examinations at many centres, while the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) said its vigilance teams comprising senior male and female teachers did not report anycase of cheating on Thursday.

Speaking to Dawn, BSEK chairman Prof Mohammad Saeed Siddiqui said that centre superintendents had generally complained about the non-availability of electricity and absence of law-enforcement agencies personnel that needed to be addressed at the earliest to ensure a peaceful and foolproof conduct of examinations without any outside interference.

He said he had paid surprise visits to four or five examination centres during the exams on Thursday and found no supply of electricity, despite the fact that centre superintendents were already under instruction to ensure the presence of electricity at all cost and, if need-ed, they should have stand-by generators to overcome loadshedding carried out by the KESC and save students from hardship due to hot summer days.

He further said that there was no presence of police or Rangers personnel, neither their mobiles could be seen at the centres he had inspected.

`Once again we are communicating with the authorities concerned for proper security arrangements for candidates and examinations staffers.

However, he did not disclose the names and locations of the centres he visited on Thursday.

`I do not even want to categorise the centres I have visited as sensi-tive or non-sensitive,` he said in reply to another question.

The BSEK controller, Rafia Mallah, however maintained that the conduct of the SSC annual examinations remained peaceful at all the 250 examination centres on Thursday.

`This morning, one of the two centres which I visited did not have electricity, while police were present at both the centres,` she added.

Replying to another question, she said that examinations at some of the examination centres, particularly those on the outskirts of the city, commenced 10-15 minutes behind schedule due to late delivery of question papers, however,the candidates were given extra time.

She further said that examinations were held peacefully at all the centres, including those located in Lyari and parts of the North Nazimabad.

`We are taking all measures to ensure an environment favourable for candidates and examination staff,` she mentioned.

A member of the private school directorate`s vigilance team, Akhlag Ahmed, said he had visited three schools, St Paul`s, St Lawrence Girls, and Aisha Bawany Girls schools where electricity was available.

`However, I did not see police or Rangers at the Aisha Bawany cen-tre,` he added.One government boys and one government girls` school near Petrol Pump in Nazimabad did not have electricity, said a central control officer, requesting anonymity.

Another examination staffer said that examination centres functioned peacefully in New Karachi, where significant deployment of law-enforcers including Rangers was seen.

Candidates from a number of schools in Federal B Area also complained of absence of electricity at their centres.

Many candidates have appealed to centre superintendents to ensure power supply during the course of the examination as it became very difficult for them to write on answer scripts while perspiring and inadequate light.

In all 129,000 boys and girls belonging to Science group were registered for Islamiat (compulsory) and Ethics for non-Muslim (compulsory) exams for class X on Thursday.

The attendance of students was up to the mark, said a BSEK official, adding that after a gap of one day, examinations in Islamiat and Ethics for the candidates of General group will be held on Saturday.

In the meantime, a BSEK press release said that the vigilance teams of the board visited various examination centres, while central control officers performed their duties as planned on Thursday.

The chairman and controller of examinations of the board paid surprise visit to Waseem Government Girls Secondary School and the S.M. Public Government Boys School in Nazimabad, where law-enforcing agency personnel were also seen.

The centre superintendent at one of the centres was questioned by the chairman for his failure to have stand-by arrangements in case of loadshedding or power disconnection, the press released said, adding that examination centres had already been assured about the payment of generators` rent and fuel cost by the BSEK. The team of chairman and controller also asked invigilators and other staff to play their due role against the use of unfair means at their centres. The board`s vigilance teams did not report any case of use of unfair means on Thursday; it was further said in the press release.

According to the press release, the BSEK has once again sent letters to the KESC authorities to not carry out loadshedding at the BSEK designated examination centres at least between 8am and 1pm for the convenience of candidates.

In the meantime, the controller of examinations has said that the centres from where the complaints of cheating were received would be subjected to disciplinary action and they might be blacklisted for the conduct of examinations in future.

A team, including the assistant controller of examinations has also been formed to look into the complaints about the use of unfair means reported from examination centres in Lyari, while the director of schools and the EDO of schools have also been asked through letters to take necessary action against the schools in question.