A teacher responsible for setting a school test paper with multiple-choice questions that included the names of President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as answers have been disqualified by authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province.
The educational board in Dera Ghazi Khan has recommended to the Punjab higher education department that action should be taken against the teacher who set the test paper, including possible removal from service.
Class 9 students appearing for an Urdu paper were surprised when they saw a multiple-choice question that asked who was responsible for the protection of Pakistan and listed Allah, 'Zardari sahib', 'Gilani sahib' or the Pakistani people as possible answers.
Another multiple-choice question asked what the 'entire system of life' was based on and listed wealth, religion, 'Zardari sahib' and the world as possible answers.
Following an uproar against the inclusion of the names of Zardari and Gilani as possible answers, Zafar Alam Zafri, the chairman of the Dera Ghazi Khan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, appointed senior teacher Mahr Akhtar Wahab to inquire into the matter.
Wahab conducted an inquiry and held Hafiz Muhammad Ajmal, the teacher who set the paper and works as an Urdu specialist at a state-run school, and Syed Ijaz Bukhari, a senior subject specialist, as those responsible for the lapse.
Subsequently, Zafri disqualified Ajmal for performing any duties for the board. He wrote to the Punjab higher education department to proceed against Ajmal under the Removal From Service Act. Zafri disqualified Bukhari for performing any duties for five years.
Meanwhile, Zafri called a meeting of the Board of Governors that passed a resolution condemning the act of including the names of the President and Prime Minister in the multiple-choice questions. "It was the height of stupidity and should have not been committed," the resolution said.