Students had to wait for hours before the physics exam paper reached multiple exam centres in Karachi on Monday.

The exam was supposed to start at 9:30 am, but the absence of the question paper itself aggravated the nervous environment of the exam hall. The paper reached the venue with hours of delay.

In a press release on the day of this incident, the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) put the blame on the centre control officer’s absence and irresponsible actions, announcing the increase of central examination hubs from 11 to 18 to make accessing exam papers for superintendents more convenient.

Board Chairman Syed Sharaf Ali Shah also announced strict action against control officers responsible for the inconvenience. A 3-member committee consisting of senior officers Hoor Mazhar, Khalid Ahsaan and Syed Muneer Hasan has been formed to look into the matter in detail, according to the press release.

Sindh’s Minister of Education Saeed Ghani tweeted he is looking into the matter but “educational boards are not under my control.”

While the physics paper was late in ‘some’ out of 443 exam centres as stated in the BSEK press release, it was leaked online minutes after the exam commenced.

Students have taken to social media to protest physical exams since they were announced in Sindh, labelling the delay and leak as a consequence of holding exams physically.

In an interview with Dawn’s TV journalist Adil Shahzaib, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood had asked students to focus on their education and not on Twitter. “There is still time left for preparation,” he said.