PSMA demands to end academic sessions in May

Future of 500,000 students is jeopardised due to the extension of the academic session

KARACHI: The Private Schools Management Association (PSMA) presented the demand to end the current academic session in May and start the new one from April, before the newly elected minister for education and literacy, Saeed Ghani, during a conference at Karachi Press Club on Tuesday. PSMA Chairperson Sharifuz Zaman stated that such press conferences were being held at different press clubs across Sindh on the day.

He maintained that the future of 500,000 students has been jeopardised due to the extension of the academic session to 16 months before the end of the current academic session, adding students of grade eight would be ending their session on July 1, 2020 and would appear for their grade nine exams in 2021, which would leave them with only seven months and 10 days to complete the syllabus. Moreover, they would have to sit seven exams instead of five, he said.

The PSMA chairperson said that students from government schools had not acquired positions since 1996, with Sindh lagging behind the most in terms of education and the situation was not helped by the fact that the students in other provinces had 12 months to prepare for exams. He said  he had high hopes from the reappointed education minister, stating that he would ask the minister to concede to PSMA's demands regarding the session dates.

He announced that PSMA would stage protests on Tuesday across the province if their demands were not met, adding that the protests would be joined by millions of students and their parents.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2020.