PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Monday ordered a fact-finding inquiry into the alleged leak of question papers for the National Testing Service teacher screening test last Sunday.

The inquiry will be conducted by the provincial inspection team (PIT) and the Chief Minister’s Secretariat has issued a letter to the PIT for it, according to a statement issued here on Monday.

It said the PIT would conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the matter and submit its report with clear recommendations to the provincial government in the next seven days.

“The provincial inspection team may also co-opt any member, including director elementary and secondary education department and officers from information and technology and home departments and Special Branch not less than BPS-19 officer to facilitate the conduct of inquiry.”

The statement quoted the chief minister as saying merit and transparency in the recruitment of government employees is the top most priority of his government that will not be compromised at any cost.

Promises strict action against culprits

He said strict action would be taken against those involved in the matter.

“The test results have been withheld and further action will be taken in light of the inquiry report,” he said.

The screening test was held across the province on Sunday for the appointment of primary school teachers (PSTs) on Sunday amid reports of paper leak from Dera Ismail Khan, Karak, Mardan, Shangla, Buner and Upper Dir districts.

The government sources told Dawn that around 900,000 people had applied for the PST recruitment test and around 350,000 of them sat it.

They said on Sunday, candidates were divided in three groups.

According to them, test of the first group was conducted from 8am to 10am, while the test of the second group was held from 11am to 1pm. The third group appeared in the test from 2pm to 4pm.

The sources said in the past, too, the education department had received some complaints about screening tests, especially about the leak of papers, so this time around, all deputy commissioners and district education officers were told to monitor the Sunday teacher screening test by examination hall visits.

They said directions were also issued to the headmasters of the relevant schools to ensure presence inside examination halls.

The sources said the education department booked 30 candidates for the use of unfair means as they brought solved papers to the examination halls.

They said the act of those students confirmed paper leak ahead of the test day.

The sources said for the first time, the education department and district administration had intervened in the screening tests conducted by private testing agencies.

They said the paper leak and recovery of solved papers from candidates had caused doubts about the fairness of such tests held in the past.

A district education officer told Dawn that the provincial government had been conducting screening tests to recruit staff members for its departments since 2014 but as the number of testing agencies had grown with the passage of time, questions had been raised about the credibility of the tests carried out by them.

He claimed that private testing agencies had lost standing in the eyes of the people as reports of anomalies often emerged after they held tests.

Some candidates insisted that the conduct of private testing agencies was not transparent.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet, in a meeting on last Tuesday, had tasked a ministerial committee with looking into the testing and recruitment regime for the provincial government jobs within two weeks due to the growing complaints of test irregularities by testing agencies. It had directed the committee to produce its recommendations on the matter after two weeks.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2021