KOHAT, March 10: The sale of pocket guides and prepared notes of various subjects has been keeping students away from proper studies and promoting cheating in examinations.

As the annual examinations of 9th and 10th classes of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Kohat, draws nearer, the sale of pocket guides has started going up.

It is regretted that such guides and prepared notes are also being recommended by teaching staff of most of the government schools because competition for admissions in professional colleges has increased following establishment of boards in all divisions of the province.

When contacted, an official of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary (BISE), Kohat, blamed both teachers and parents for increasing trend of cheating and use of unfair means during examinations. He said that duty of the board officials was restricted to examination halls to stop students from cheating.

Sources, however, said that due to wrong policies and inefficiency of the BISE, Garrison Cadet College, Kohat, had to get affiliation with the federal board of education to save future of its students.

They said that the policy of hiring halls of private schools and colleges for Rs20,000 each initiated by the BISE for holding examinations had also encouraged the menace of cheating. They said that the money was deposited with the BISE.

It has been witnessed that two to three schools agree on one hall for their students and charge Rs800 per head from their students. The school administrations usually tell their students that they should pay the ‘fee’ so that they could be provided ‘free environment’ during examinations.

Besides, the sources claimed the BISE, Kohat, had been hiring the services of retired teachers, physical training instructors and even Qaris to cater to the large number of examination centres in Kohat, Hangu, Darra Adamkhel, Orakzai Agency, Kurram Agency and Karak districts.

It is high time for the provincial authorities to send special teams to Kohat to check the use of unfair means during the coming board examinations and save the future of hardworking students of the district.