Students appearing for matriculation exams broke chairs and tables at an examination centre in Karachi’s Steel Town Tuesday afternoon.

According to the protesters, they had been waiting for their physics exam papers ever since they arrived at the centre. “The management was constantly giving us reassurances but the question papers never arrived,” one of the students said.

Immediately after the students started the demonstration after which the police and Rangers personnel arrived at the site to diffuse the situation.

The management of the centre said that more students appeared to take the exams than the registered number. This led to a shortage of exam papers.

Exams of physics and general science, scheduled for Tuesday [August 24], have been cancelled. The new test date will be announced soon.

The exam was being conducted by the Ziauddin Examination Board.

Board exams across Sindh resumed on August 10. Students aren’t allowed to take cell phones inside examination halls.

Earlier this month, Pakistan decided to change its grading scheme for matric and inter students. The country had decided to hold exams on elective subjects only and not for compulsory subjects. It was decided that the marks students receive on their electives, a proportionate of that will be applied to the compulsory subjects and they will be graded accordingly.

The rule will be applied to exams in Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu, and Kashmir.