Server crashes, record errors, absent-status complaints spark outrage; BSEK sets up help desk
KARACHI:
KARACHI
The credibility of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi’s (BSEK) annual examination results came under scrutiny on Saturday after widespread technical failures and alleged data discrepancies left thousands of students and parents frustrated, with many questioning the reliability of the board’s automated results system.
Soon after the BSEK announced the Class X annual examination results, its online portal repeatedly crashed as heavy traffic overwhelmed the system, preventing many students from accessing their scores.
Alongside the server outages, numerous complaints surfaced over alleged inaccuracies in students’ records. Several candidates reported that while their names appeared correctly, the roll numbers displayed were incorrect. Others claimed that their father’s name or other personal details had been altered, while some said the same roll number produced different results at different times.
In several cases, students alleged that they were initially shown as having passed, only for the status to later change to failed or absent, raising concerns over the integrity of the published results. According to sources, hundreds of roll number slips were either not uploaded correctly or were improperly entered into the board’s database, making it difficult for affected students to verify their actual results.
The issue quickly sparked widespread criticism on social media, where the board’s official accounts were inundated with complaints from parents and students.
Many parents claimed their children had appeared in the examinations but were incorrectly marked absent in the published results, while others pointed to various discrepancies in marks and personal information.
Parents argued that the problem appeared to be widespread rather than limited to isolated cases. They questioned why the board proceeded with announcing the results if its automated system was not fully capable of producing accurate records.
“Publishing results on time is not as important as publishing correct results,” several parents wrote on social media, stressing that matriculation examinations play a critical role in shaping students’ academic futures and that errors could have lasting consequences.
Some students expressed concern that they would now be forced to visit the board’s offices to have their records corrected, anticipating long queues, delays and additional stress after already enduring months of waiting for their examination results.
Parents and students have demanded a transparent inquiry into the reported irregularities, immediate correction of affected results and comprehensive improvements to the board’s information technology infrastructure to prevent similar problems in future examination cycles.
Responding to the controversy, BSEK Chairman Musharraf Ali Rajput told The Express Tribune that a special help desk had been established at the board’s office to facilitate affected students.
