Punjab Exams to Go High-Tech as BISE Rolls Out Major Reforms

News Desk 

Lahore: The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Lahore (BISE) has unveiled sweeping reforms to its examination system, introducing centralised marking for 9th-class practical exams and launching an e-marking system aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability.

BISE Secretary Rizwan Nazir, speaking to Geo News, said the changes were initiated in response to widespread complaints about irregularities in practical examinations.

“Previously, examiners had full discretion over the 30-mark allocation in practical exams, which led to misuse,” Nazir said. “We cannot allow such practices to continue.”

To address these concerns, the board has introduced centralised marking of practical exams and will install CCTV cameras in laboratories to ensure integrity during assessments. Practical exams for 9th-grade students will now be a mandatory component of their overall evaluation.

Nazir said the reforms were implemented on the directives of Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat to restore fairness and credibility to the examination process.

In another significant development, BISE Lahore is rolling out an e-marking system for theory papers. Under the new model, students will attempt their exams on designated e-sheets, which will be scanned and digitised for online assessment.

Examiners will be issued secure IDs, enabling them to mark papers remotely from home under real-time webcam monitoring. Instead of assigning entire answer scripts to a single examiner, the marking process will now be divided into smaller batches of questions to improve accuracy and efficiency.

The new system will be introduced with the ICS first annual examinations across Punjab this year, with plans to expand e-marking to all subjects over the next two to three years.