The students allege that corruption is rampant within the board and say the administration has turned bribery into business.
Students from Sanghar, Shahdadpur, Shahpur Chakar and Sakrand districts staged protests against the recently announced Class XI results by the Shaheed Benazirabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, accusing the administration of mismanagement and manipulation.
Shaheed Benazirabad (SBA) division, along with Sukkur and Larkana divisions, had adopted e-marking for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Part one and Secondary School Certificate (HSC) Part one results, which were announced on Tuesday. Chairman Shaheed Benazirabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISESBA) Dr Asif Ali Memon said the e-grading system was a major achievement.
However, the results, like the election results in the country, did not sit well with the students. Students from several districts of Shaheed Benazirabad took to the streets to protest the automated results, which involved minimal human interaction.
In Sanghar, students of Pir Syed Sabghatullah Shah Shaheed Government Degree College boycotted classes and marched on the streets. The protesters, including Abdul Jabbar Mari, Abdul Rahman Laghari, Siraj Wassan, Farhan Laghari, Sarfraz Bugti, Latif Bugti, Arsalan Jatt, Ammar Lander, Abdul Hameed Bugti and Ayan Ali Jatt, said they were regular students who had performed well in university tests and had written strong answers in the exams.
They told the media that despite their performance, the board’s incompetence had ruined their future. With the grades they received, they claimed that they would not be able to gain admission into any university. The students said the board was experimenting at their expense.
The students alleged that corruption was rampant within the board and that the administration had turned bribery into a business. They rejected the results and demanded the immediate dismissal of the president and the comptroller, as well as a new verification of the papers.
Similar protests broke out in Shahdadpur district, where students of Govt Boys Degree College, led by Nasir Khuso, Younus Sanjrani and Roshan Khaskheli, gathered outside the press club. They shouted slogans against the junta and rejected the results, alleging large-scale manipulation. The protesters claimed that even meritorious students had failed by receiving low grades.
In Sakrand, hundreds of students expressed their anger after the annual results were announced. Ninth- and 11th-graders said grades awarded on several papers fell far below expectations, threatening to waste an entire academic year. Students of Govt Degree College Sakrand marched from their campus to Sahafi Chowk, chanting slogans and demanding transparency and new controls.
At the Govt Boys Higher Secondary School Panhal Khan Chandio campus, students and teachers also joined the protests. A rally was held from the school to MPA House in Panhal Khan Chandio village. Protesters demanded that the board president personally intervene, order a new verification of documents and investigate the entire rating system to redress alleged injustices.
The protests continued for several hours, gaining support from civil society and educators, who called the students’ demands legitimate and urged immediate reforms to the board’s oversight process.
In Shahpur Chakar, students staged a demonstration from their college to the local press club, raising slogans against the junta. They accused the administration of deliberately awarding low grades to block their access to higher education. “The board has committed a grave injustice. By giving us fewer grades, they have conspired to close the doors of higher education,” the students said.
The protesters asked the Sindh Chief Minister, Education Minister and senior officials to order re-verification of all answer scripts and ensure transparency in the evaluation system.
