Examination malpractice, together with dishonest and tampering with outcomes, has lengthy been a blemish on Pakistan’s training system, undermining the credibility of {qualifications} and creating an uneven enjoying discipline for college kids. The choice by the Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Schooling to put in CCTV cameras in examination centres for the 2025 Matriculation and Intermediate examinations, whereas seemingly well-intentioned, represents a reactive strategy to addressing this deep-rooted difficulty.
CCTV cameras, at greatest, supply surface-level oversight. In a system already suffering from inefficiencies, the challenges of monitoring and sustaining these surveillance methods will inevitably come up. Previous experiences in comparable tasks throughout the nation have proven how technological interventions are sometimes undermined by poor implementation and useful resource constraints. With out sufficient coaching of workers and efficient safety mechanisms to behave on surveillance knowledge, this initiative dangers changing into one other bureaucratic box-ticking train. The underlying drawback lies within the concentrate on reactive measures quite than proactive, systemic reforms. The difficulty of examination malpractice is reflective of broader failures similar to overcrowded lecture rooms, undertrained academics, outdated curricula and a scarcity of essential considering improvement. Addressing dishonest by way of surveillance does little to deal with the foundation causes, such because the immense strain on college students to achieve a system that prioritises rote studying over real understanding.
Academic upliftment requires a shift in priorities. A tradition of moral success begins with curriculum reforms that emphasise essential considering. Lecturers, as pivotal figures on this transformation, should be adequately educated and empowered to instill core values. With out these foundational modifications, no technological intervention – CCTV cameras included – can actually elevate the tutorial panorama.