Schools to Remain Open Across Pakistan, says Shafqat Mehmood

The Inter-Provincial Education Meeting Conference (IPEMC) has decided to keep schools open across the country, with the exception of Sindh, where schools will remain closed until 8 August 2021, said Shafqat Mehmood on Wednesday.

The announcement was made by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood during a press conference after the Inter-Provincial Education Meeting Conference (IPEMC) which was attended by all Education Ministers to review the latest coronavirus situation across the country.

Schools In Sindh

Shafqat Mehmood said that Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani informed the IPEMC that the province will review the coronavirus situation before 8 August 2021 and make a decision regarding reopening of schools and conducting examinations, which have also been postponed due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

Schools will remain open in Punjab, GB, AJ&K, Balochistan and KP

Schools in Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad and Jammu Kashmir, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain open in a staggered manner, with 50% attendance. However, this restriction will not apply to universities and colleges in these provinces and regions.

Board Exams

Shafqat Mehmood said that all board exams will take place as per their schedule, with the exception of Sindh. “The exams of classes 9, 10, 11, and 12 will take place in accordance with their date sheet.” he said.

Furthermore, the Federal Education Minister said that IPEMC had decided to conduct board exams of only elective subjects and the marks obtained in these would be proportionally allocated for compulsory subjects.

“The IPEMC has decided the students would be given an additional 5% marks in exams as according to a research, the students get better marks in compulsory subjects,” he added.

Next Meeting

The next Inter-Provincial Education Meeting Conference (IPEMC) along with the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) will take place on 25 August 2021.

“These decisions will remain in place,” said Shafqat Mehmood while urging students to not pay attention to news on social media as it is mostly misleading and any authentic news would be shared directly by the education ministry.

Read more: Punjab Govt Imposes Lockdown in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Faisalabad.

Follow INCPAK on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram  for update.