No exams will take place in the country till 15th of June: Shafqat Mahmood

On Tuesday, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan announced that all the board exams have been postponed till 15th June 2021 as per National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) due to the increasing cases of coronavirus in the country.

After attending a special session of the NCOC, the minister and the SPAM held a press conference related to Cambridge exam centers as well as the overall situation of coronavirus in the country.

While speaking at the press conference, Shafqat Mahmood said that coronavirus cases have been increased in the country from April 18 (when the last education ministry meeting was held) until now, therefore, the government has decided to postpone all the exams until June 15.

“Exams of 9, 10, 11, and 12, which were supposed to begin from the end of May, have been delayed further,” the minister said. “No board exams will be held till mid-June (June 15).”

The education minister further said that in the third week of May, another meeting of the NCOC will decide if these exams will be further postponed or not.

“So if exams take place after June 15, they may continue in July and even August,” the minister explained.

No exams will take place in the country till 15th of June, decides NCOC. A level and AS exams have been cancelled as well. Only exception is given to A2 exam, that will take place under strict SOPs. Federal Minister for Education @Shafqat_Mahmood pic.twitter.com/uoKtqE1kI0

— Ministry of Federal Education/ProfessionalTraining (@EduMinistryPK) April 27, 2021

Cambridge Exams:

Speaking regarding Cambridge exams, Shafqat Mahmood said that O level exams will now be held in October and November as well as the A and AS level exams have also been postponed till the same months.

“Those students who wish to seek admission in Pakistani universities will be able to do so until January as the government will take the universities on board in this regard,” the minister said.

However, Shafqat Mahmood said that students who will be appearing for A2 level exams [around 20,000 students] who want to apply to foreign universities or cannot postpone their exams for any reason can appear in the Cambridge exams right now.

“In this regard, the government has issued directives that no exam venue will have more than 50 people [to maintain adequate social distancing]”

“Yesterday, we saw that some Cambridge exam centers saw a violation of the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs),” he said. “Therefore, from Monday onwards, the government will ensure the deployment of law enforcement agencies outside of the exam centers to ensure compliance with the SOPs.”

Mehmood stressed at the end of the press conference that [irrespective of everything] exams are very important for students as they work hard throughout the year.

“All the education ministers unanimously decided that no promotions can be granted without exams, but for the sake of facilitating student [in times of crisis] the exams will be held in the October/ November session or after June/ July [in case of local students],” Mehmood said.