The Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has said that if any school or madrassa is found open on Aug 15, it will be shut down.
“The Pakistani students of O and A level have suffered grave injustice and we have approached the British Council, Cambridge, and the British High Commission to rectify the unfair grading,” said Shafqat Mahmood.
Vis-à-vis the new syllabus, Mahmood said all the schools from classes I to V will follow the unvarying syllabus from April which abides by the doctrines of Holy Quran and Sunnah. He went on to state that once the class XII curriculum is prepared and accessible, the local pupils would prefer the domestic curriculum over O and A level options.
Mahmood said, “NCOC has decided to keep all educational institutions across the country closed till Sept 15 in view of health risks to children. The private schools and madrassas must not violate the government’s directions in this regard forcing the latter to take action, the minister said.”
“The government will shut down any schools being opened without permission,” he added.
Our correspondent adds: Earlier, Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took notice of students’ outcry across Pakistan and expressed concern over discrepancies in the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) grades.
Our children work hard all year, and faced with unprecedented circumstances owing to Covid-19, they had no option but to accept grades based on their expected results,” he said in a statement.
He said such blatant discrepancies had put their college admissions and future in grave jeopardy. He insisted that the government pay solemn attention to the matter, and to take it up with the examination board at once. “We cannot afford a delay where the future of our nation’s youth is concerned,” he emphasized.