LOWER DIR: Deputy commissioner Mohammad Arif Khan has said steps have been taken to prevent cheating in the annual secondary school certificate examinations starting from April 8.

He stated this while presiding over a high-level meeting held here on Wednesday. Officials of the education department, Education Monitoring Authority (EMA), police, and Special Branch were in attendance.

The deputy commissioner said the chief secretary had stressed the need for a fair examination process.

He said to ensure compliance with the directives, district education officers, assistant commissioners, and additional assistant commissioners would conduct surprise inspections of the examination halls. “The EMA and Special Branch officials will oversee exam centres, while CCTV cameras will be installed to deter malpractice. Grade-18 officers and above will be assigned as monitors for the exams,” he said.

Mr Arif said outlets near exam centres would be inspected, and those found distributing cheating material would face legal action. “The use of mobile phones, electronic devices, digital watches, Bluetooth gadgets, and exam-related notes inside examination halls will be strictly prohibited,” he added.

Meanwhile, district education officer Inayatullah Khan stated that a recent meeting chaired by chief secretary Shahab Ali Shah, and attended by senior officials from eight educational boards of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had decided to abolish the examination halls in private institutions.

“Private school students will now take their 9th and 10th-grade board exams in government school exam halls,” he said. However, the move has raised concerns among private school owners, who have urged the government to reconsider the decision. They argued that essential material had already been dispatched to designated exam centres.

LIGHTNING KILLS CATTLE HEADS: Lightning killed 40 sheep and goats in Maskini Dara area near the Pak-Afghan border the other day.

The incident occurred in Kolalan Shino Banda area during heavy rain. A powerful lightning struck a herd of livestock, killing 40 sheep and goats on the spot. However, the shepherd accompanying the herd remained unharmed.

Village council nazim Malik Syed Iqbal visited the site and confirmed the loss of livestock. The unfortunate incident has caused a financial loss of millions of rupees to the owner of the animals.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2025