The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Karachi has abandoned its e-marking system for Class 10th examinations, exposing a multi-million-rupee failure under its previous administration.
Nearly 175,000 matric students will now have their papers assessed manually after a planned digital evaluation system collapsed before it was ever properly implemented.
Former board chairman Muhammad Hussain Sohu resigned following corruption allegations and an official inquiry that uncovered widespread irregularities across the operations.
Special answer sheets worth approximately Rs25 million were printed specifically for digital scanning, costing between Rs70 and Rs80 per copy against the standard Rs28 to Rs30.
More than 350,000 of these customised sheets were produced for just 2 Class 10th subjects, mathematics and computer science, but will now be assessed entirely by hand.
The IT company contracted for the e-marking project was never fully engaged to test or operate its software, despite the board paying approximately Rs18 million for the purchase.
No formal training sessions were conducted for teachers assigned to use the digital system, leaving examiners completely unable to operate the assessment software or its tools.
Officials are now working to introduce e-marking for Class 9th subjects instead, beginning with dedicated teacher training workshops ahead of upcoming internal examinations.
A June 30 deadline for announcing matriculation results, combined with an absence of trained staff, has made e-marking for Class 10th impossible to implement this year.
Despite the inquiry report recommending the immediate removal of the controller of examinations, no official notification has been issued to formalise that action.
The provincial minister for universities and boards has reportedly approved the inquiry, yet the controller of examinations remains in post without any formal removal.
