There is no summer vacation in Sindh this year

The annual examinations for the ninth and eleventh grades of Sindh province will be held in July and August respectively, and practical examinations will also be held at the same time. Moreover, there is no summer vacation in the whole province this year.

This was decided at the provincial school education department steering committee meeting held in the Sindh Provincial Assembly Committee meeting room on Wednesday. Said Ghani, Minister of Education and Labor of Sindh Province presided over the meeting.

The meeting passed an earlier decision to hold board examinations for elective subjects only. However, it is determined that any student who fails in these subjects will receive a passing score.

According to the decision of the steering committee, the examinations for the first to eighth grades will be conducted by the school itself. The meeting decided that due to the long interruption of the school year due to the Covid-19 blockade, the province will have no summer vacation this year; however, if the temperature rises sharply, the decision can be reviewed.

The steering committee also approved the minutes of the last meeting. Participants also agreed to announce their grades 10 and 12 after 45 days of their respective exams. The grade decisions for the 9th and 11th grades will be announced later, but the grade date has not been finalized at the meeting.

Gani said that he has received three suggestions for the first to eighth grade exams. The first is to encourage students in grades one to four and grades six and seven to be exempted, and to hold examinations for grades five and eight.

The other proposal is for all classes to be promoted to the next grade without taking exams, and the third proposal is to take exams for all classes. After discussion, the steering committee decided that the exams for grades one to eight this year will be held by the school itself.

The Minister of Education stated that due to the pandemic, the government had to make some decisions that were not ideal for education, but this was a need at the time. “The teaching process for pre-kindergarten and elementary school classes will begin on June 21. However, if the epidemic situation that is still under control worsens, we will be forced to close educational institutions again,” he said.

The meeting was attended by Qazi Shahid Pervez, Secretary of the Education Department of Schools and Universities, Secretary of the University and Board of Directors, Tanzeela Umme Habiba and Rabia Azfar Nizami, members of the Sindh Provincial Assembly, Mansoob Siddiqui, Director General of Private Schools, Dr. Fauzia Khan, Secretary of Additional Education, and Chairman of the Sindh Provincial Assembly. Representatives of the Board of Directors and the Association of Private Schools.