TIMERGARA: Misprints in mathematics question paper of grade-9 here on Wednesday put thousands of students in trouble during the ongoing secondary school certificate (SSC) examinations being held under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Malakand.

Sources told this scribe that question number 2, 4, 5 and 9 of the mathematics paper for grade-9 had some essential letters and figures missing due to which the students were unable to correctly solve them.

A mathematics teacher in Talash, Lower Dir, said that even teachers could not solve those questions which had misprints. He said that his students pointed out the matter and then he contacted the examination staff members who corrected the misprinted questions for the candidates.

When contacted, a board official said that they had observed the mistakes anddirected the examination staf f to make the necessary corrections. Sources said that the students had been asked to attempt nine of the 11 questions of which four were incorrect. The parents have demanded of the education board to award proper marks to the students who had attempted those wrong questions.

LOANS: Provincial president of Aman Jirga Syed Kamal Shah Bacha has said that the interest-based money lending business was against the spirit of Islam and it should be rejected by the people.

He was addressing a gathering of elders at Warsak AdenzaihereonWednesday.

He said that charging interest on loans had been forbidden in Islam, but still the practice had been prevalent in society. He said that the Aman Jirga had launched a province-wide struggle against this illegal business and drug abuse. Correspondent