ISLAMABAD:
The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training on Tuesday directed the relevant authorities to speed up the investigation into the alleged leak of Cambridge A-Level exam papers and ensure the matter is resolved by July 21.
The panel, chaired by Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, expressed concern over the issue during its meeting in Parliament.
In May, Cambridge International Education (CIE) confirmed the leak of an AS-level maths exam paper and announced the postponement of yet another maths paper.
Students sitting an AS-level maths paper claimed the paper they received was identical to a solved paper they had come across on social media just a day earlier.
Previously, the AS Level Mathematics exam (9709/12), conducted on April 29, was also subject to similar requirements.
During the meeting, the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) informed the committee that it had shared the available evidence with the Cambridge Assessment and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) for investigation and appropriate action.
The Chairman directed that letters be sent to the relevant authorities urging them to speed up the investigation and ensure that the matter is resolved by 21 July.
The committee was briefed on the issue of degree certificate for candidates from unauthorized campuses of PIMSAT, University of South Asia, Lahore and NICE, Karachi.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) informed the meeting that it had approved 4,383 out of about 6,000 affected students for consideration for diplomas.
The meeting was informed that an online facility had been put in place to streamline the degree attestation process, while the chairman directed the relevant authorities to present a detailed report in the next meeting on the number of degrees being attested through the system.
The committee also discussed the long-pending issue of non-attestation of degrees issued by Al-Khair University.
The meeting was further informed that the commission had planned to conduct a test before they could verify the degrees of the students, but the exam is yet to be held.
The panel directed the HEC to resolve the issue by adopting the policy earlier applied in the case of Global University, Lahore and submit a comprehensive report within 10 to 15 days.
Expressing grave concern over the protracted delay, the chairman noted that the HEC had been negligent in resolving the matter for several years.
She said it would be unreasonable to require people who completed their studies years ago to sit an exam at this stage.
The body emphasized the need for a speedy and fair resolution of the issue to safeguard the professional and academic interests of the students concerned.
The HEC also briefed the committee on its plagiarism policy, stating that the permissible level of plagiarism varies across disciplines, with the maximum permissible limit set at 19 per cent. It further informed the committee that Turnitin software is used to detect and assess plagiarism in academic research.
