Board exams to be held after July 10 only for elective subjects: Shafqat Mahmood

Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood on Wednesday said that board exams for students of classes nine and 10 would be held only for elective subjects and mathematics, while exams for students of classes 11 and 12 would be held for elective subjects only.

“This decision has been taken as students have different streams and directions so they will sit in exams related only to their particular subject of interest,” he said.

He announced the decision at a press conference in Islamabad after a meeting of the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC).

Mahmood said the provincial education ministers wanted exam results to be finalised and released by the third week of September. He added that the committee had a “firm stance that exams will take place”.

Acknowledging students’ grievances regarding their course work being incomplete, Mahmood said this was a result of the frequent closure and reopening of schools. “It was necessary to shut schools in view of the Covid-19 situation. There was also a risk associated with reopening schools due to fear of students contracting the disease,” he reasoned.

“We then reduced the syllabus by 40 per cent,” he said, adding that the overall curriculum and nature of assessments had been modified keeping the challenges in mind. “The 9th grade and 10th grade exams will be taken in elective subjects, and mathematics will also be a part of it. Therefore, exams will be held in four subjects,” he said, while the exams of 11th and 12th grades will be held only in elective subjects.

The federal minister further said that the exams will start after July 10 in order to give students at least three to four weeks to prepare. “We are taking this decision to make the most of the current situation when Covid-19 cases have dropped,” he said, adding that the committee had also decided that all teachers would be vaccinated before the exams.