Sindh education authorities on Monday decided that the new academic year in the province will start from June 1. Addressing a press conference here in Karachi after chairing a meeting of the Programme Steering Committee, Minister for Education Saeed Ghani said the government is taking all the necessary steps to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The meeting was convened to decide on the changes to the academic calendar after the provincial cabinet announced to extend vacations in all educational institutions till May 31.

"Exams for the classes 1st to 8th will be held from June 1 to June 15. After the results, students will be promoted to next classes," said Ghani.

From June 15, exams for ninth and metric will start, ending on June 30, the minister explained. The result will be announced on August 15, he added.

Furthermore, it was also decided that intermediate exams will commence from July 06. All the exams will be held in afternoon.

The new academic year for first and second year will start from August 1.

Under the new education scheme, second year results will be announced on September 15.

On the question of fees, Ghani said schools are not allowed to take advance fee - and that parents should pay fee on monthly basis.

Ghani further said that he had spoken to federal minister Shafqat Mehmood to urge him to shut down all Cambridge schools in the province as well. "The parents of children studying in O, A-level schools should not worry," he said.

"There is a high possibility that the schedule of the Cambridge exams will be changed as well. A final decision in this regard is still yet to be made," he said.