Pakistan has become an important market for UK. And European examination boards since the country’s public exam boards and educational establishments have performed poorly. Over 200,000 Pakistani students are registered in these foreign institutions, which is growing yearly. These organizations exploit Pakistan’s failed examination system by transferring billions of rupees annually abroad. Pakistani Growing Dependence on Foreign Exam Boards.
Change of Preferences Pakistani
Interestingly, people now opt for other foreign examination bodies because Cambridge exams are leaked and canceled regularly. IBCC has also granted the Oxford AQA an approval certificate after Cambridge International, Edexcel (Pearson), Learning Resource Network (LRN), and International Baccalaureate to operate within Pakistan. It will be responsible for conducting O-Level and A-Level examinations in Pakistan. In addition, NCUK and QUALIFI – two more British examination boards- have sought permission from IBCC to work in Pakistan.
Local Landscape Pakistani
LRN is registered in the UK, but British-born Pakistanis own it. Two private sector examination boards are operating in Pakistan: the Aga Khan University Examination Board and the Ziauddin University Examination Board. However, student enrollment is at most 100,000 for both boards. There are 34 public educational boards in Pakistan, including eight in Sindh, where over six million students take matriculation and intermediate exams yearly.
Regulatory Oversight and Challenges
Teaching curricula offered by foreign institutions need government approval despite the Federal Board of Islamabad’s rules and regulations. Many international exam centers do not adhere to these guidelines. Their materials often reflect inaccurate perceptions of Pakistani culture because such content does not undergo scrutiny or approval from local authorities.
The outcome has been a continuous drain on valuable forex earnings alongside growing dependence on external education systems that only serve a few privileged pupils, leaving most others behind. This case highlights how urgent it is to improve Pakistan’s public education system to reduce reliance on foreign examination boards and conserve scarce resources.
