SUBSTANDARD evaluation of answer sheets, also known as paper marking, at secondary and higher secondary board-level examination is, indeed, a matter of grave concern as it makes or mars the students’ future with a single stroke of the pen wielded by the head examiner and sub-examiners who are mostly public teachers.

The prevalent environment wherein the examiners mark the papers is not pleasant at all in terms of ambience and infrastructure. In Punjab, paper marking mostly takes place from May to August when the summer happens to be at its peak, and loadshedding of electricity makes matters worse. That the quality of paper checking suffers in such phases is undeniable.

The standard of evaluation is poor in any case, particularly in the languages (English, Urdu) than in the subjects of Sciences. The examiners’ expertise falls disappointingly short of the nuances of the answers of the students hailing from a wide variety of education systems. Even teachers who have never taught the subject are authorised to mark the answer sheets of that subject.

Students who apply to examination boards for rechecking of their answer sheets, reveal further amazing truths after witnessing their marked papers. Correct answers are declared wrong or awarded below par marks. The draconian law of the examination board bars the recalibration of the once marked answers treated as scriptural text not liable to be altered in the least.

Moreover, the absence of a uniform code of conduct for evaluation compounds the misery of the students. In the English paper for secondary classes, students are asked to write the summary of a given poem, and only five marks are allocated to this question. Now for a question of five marks, students write the summary that has to be around a minimum 500 words. The summary is embellished with irrelevant quotes and biographical details of the poet. In a way, students often write a critical analysis of the poem, which is technically not required at all.

Similarly, a 15-mark question of essay writing stipulates the word limit to 150-200 words. But students write 10-15 pages containing more than 500 words, because they know only the length matters. And the act of defying the word limit is committed dominantly by students of English medium elite schools. In doing so, they influence and distort the standards of evaluation.

Besides, the head examiners, who mostly belong to the higher secondary level or administrative cadre in the relevant department, do not have any experience of teaching the particular subject to students of secondary level. They direct the sub-examiners, who mostly happen to be teachers of classes IX and X, to award strictly few marks to answers with redundant details. The order is technically correct, but the timing of this ‘punishment’ is not right as students at this level submit only what their teachers have taught them. The exam boards direct the head and sub-examiners to be lenient and facilitate the students.

The problem arises when the examiners do not have any experience of teaching the particular subject they are evaluating. The question arises how they are granted permission. Here lies the rub. It is mostly because of the laxity of the heads of institutions, who forward such teachers’ applications. But in some cases, such teachers tend to bypass the immediate authorities and use their connections with political figures of the area, or the board officials.

Unfortunately, the repercussions of such substandard evaluation include the unpredictability of results and lack of trust in the learning and teaching processes. Continuing with such acts is like playing with the future of the young, who, in turn, happen to be the future of the nation. That being so, should we allow that to continue? The relevant authorities must get their act together to address the issue professionally.

M.N.N.
Kasur

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2024