ISLAMABAD – Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood announced on Tuesday that no exams will be taken till June 15 due to rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.
Talking to media, flanked by Special Assistant to PM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, the education minister said that examination of class 9,10,11 and 12 have been cancelled, adding that O/A level exams have also been postponed.
The minister went on to say that O/A level exams will be held in October/November cycle.
He said that the decision has been taken with consensus during a meeting of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) after reviewing the prevailing health situation.
Mehmood said that window will be open for the students, who want to take exams of A2 level to save their study year, adding that strict compliance of SOPs will be ensured in the exams.
He further said that only 50 students will be allowed to sit in a exam rooms. The minister further said that O level exams will be held in October later this year.
Shafqat Mehmood said that the NCOC will hold a meeting in third week of May to decide about holding exams.
The development comes amid students’ protest on social media urging the government to cancel the exams due to deteriorating health situation in the country.
Pakistan records over 4,400 infections in a day
Pakistan’s worsening coronavirus situation appears to be escalating, with over 4,400 new infections recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 804,939 on Tuesday.
Pakistan conducted 43,981 coronavirus tests, of which 4,487 were positive, according to the government’s database for monitoring the virus’s spread.
With 142 new deaths, Pakistan’s overall coronavirus death count now stands at 17,329. With 107 new deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, Punjab has the highest death toll.
With 87,794 active cases, the country’s positivity rate has risen to 10.2 percent, whereas the total number of recoveries has hit 699,816.
According to a health ministry spokesperson, no cases of the Indian covid-19 have yet been identified in Pakistan; however, Pakistan is reportedly registering cases of the UK’s new coronavirus variant, the first three of which were reported in Karachi in December last year.
The spokesperson also said that land and air travel are currently prohibited from India as a precautionary measure to avoid the spread of the Indian strain of covid-19.
The government has imposed a series of controls in order to mitigate the damages suffered as the third outbreak of coronavirus intensifies.
