Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has announced that on-campus classes for students till grade 8, in areas that are affected the most by COVID-19 will remain closed till April 28.
After chairing an important meeting at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) attended by all the education and health ministers to decide further on closure or reopening of schools during the deteriorating coronavirus situation, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood announced his decision in a presser.
“It has been decided that in districts affected by the coronavirus, physical classes will not be held [in schools of these districts] from grades 1-8 till April 28,” told Shafqat Mahmood. “It must be borne in mind that not every district has been affected by the coronavirus.”
Furthermore, he mentioned that education minister of Punjab had informed him that 13 districts across the province are under the lethal coronavirus, hence on-campus classes will not be held there till April 28.
Sindh government had already announced its decision of suspending on-campus classes from grades 1-8 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had done the same, said Shafqat Mahmood.
The minister said consultations will be held whether these on-campus classes will remain suspended till Eid or whether they should be resumed “in some staggered way”.
Education/Health Ministers of Pakistan unanimously made following decisions at NCOC today: 1) In districts affected by corona classes from 1 till 8th will remain closed till 28th April. 2) In these districts classes 9th till 12th will resume in a staggered manner from April 19th
— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) April 6, 2021
He said classes of grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 will be held under strict compliance of coronavirus SOPs from April 19 onwards, so that these students can complete their preparation for their upcoming exams.
“Universities in affected districts will also remain closed and classes will be held online,” he said, adding that in other districts, universities will remain open and function as normal.
Schedule of Cambridge exams:
Ministries of health and education are united in their decision to have the O and A level examinations proceed as scheduled
He said health and education ministers of all provinces had unanimously decided that O and A level exams should continue as per schedule.
“These student are very less [compared to students of local education boards in Pakistan] and in our discussion with Cambridge, they assured us that coronavirus SOPs will be followed strictly,” he said, explaining the reason as to why Cambridge exams were not being delayed.
In the Education Ministers conference today it was also decided unanimously that all exams will take place. A/ AS and O level date sheets have already been announced. Classes 9 to 12 exam dates will be announced by respective boards but will be after Eid
— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) April 6, 2021
Decisions regarding exams are final. Students should start preparing and working hard. This decision will not be changed so no one should have any uncertainty in their mind. Everything has been done keeping interest of education in mind. My very best wishes to everyone
— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) April 6, 2021
Going through some reports, the minister told on average, 4,000 students were giving Cambridge exams in a day. He said there were very less days when 10,000-12,000 O/A level students would give exams.
He said this number was very less compared to the students of local boards.
The minister clarified that Cambridge exams in Sri Lanka, Nepal and India were being held, rejecting the perception that no other countries in the region were holding O/A level exams.
He requested students to prepare for the Cambridge exams as they will be held as per schedule.
“These exams will be held and they will be held under strict compliance of the coronavirus SOPs,” he said. “We will monitor every school and ensure SOPs are being followed,” added the minister.
He said last year, the government had passed students of grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 based on their performance in the previous year’s exams.
“This time around, we don’t even have test results from the last year [due to the coronavirus,” he said. “Hence, these exams are very important and they must be held [on schedule].”
Schedule Exams for students of grades 9, 10, 11 and 12
He said nearly four million students across Pakistan give exams for 9, 10, 11 and 12 grades. “Exams for 9, 10, 11 and 12 will be held,” he said, adding that they will be shifted to the 3rd week of May.
“The date-sheet announced by Punjab in which exams were to be held on May 4, have been shifted to May 24 onwards,” he said, adding that some exams will be held in even June and July as well.
