ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) on Monday decided to hold board examinations of secondary and higher secondary after 20th June, in accordance with the Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) approved by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The IPEMC meeting held here under the chairmanship of the Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training, Shafqat Mahmood, also decided no student of secondary and higher secondary classes will be promoted in next class without examinations. The meeting further decided to cut short summer vacations duration, saying summer vacations will be limited and province will decide how many leaves to grant as they see fit.

“The respective boards will announce the exact dates, but in principle, exams will start after June 15 with priority to grade 12 and 10 to be followed by 11 and 9,” Mehmood had said in a tweet.

“Intermediate and Matric exams would be given priority so that results can come in before university admissions,” he had said. Members of the IPEMC rejected the suggestion to promote students of grades 9 and 11. They also gave their approval to hold the exams as scheduled in July.

All education ministers, including the Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan ministers are members of the IPEMC, which is responsible for formulating policies related to the education sector. The meeting reviewed the latest COVID-19 situation in the country. The meeting decided to hold examinations in the country after June 20; however, provinces would finalise the dates of the exams.

Chairman Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Committee Shafqat Mahmood asked all federal units to ensure timely vaccination of teachers, supervisory staff, and other administrative staff.Those who do not have vaccination certificates will not be called for invigilation, the meeting decided.

The Federal Education Ministry, after consultations with the NCOC, had announced that the teachers will be vaccinated for coronavirus on priority to bring an end to the disruption in the education sector and reduce learning losses.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021