Sindh's schools to follow last year’s academic calendar

Schools have raised objections against the move

KARACHI: While school students across Pakistan will be starting their new academic session with their customary enthusiasm, the upcoming term seems to be particularly challenging for those in Sindh, especially ninth graders.

Owing to the absence of the education minister in Sindh for a period of six months, because of which the education department’s annual steering committee meeting could not take place, the new academic session for schools across Sindh will be based on last year’s calendar.

According to a recently-issued notification in this regard, the new session will start in all the government and private educational schools in the province from July 1, 2020, whereas summer and winter breaks will also take place following the academic calendar of 2019.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Sindh school education and literacy secretary Ahsan Mangi explained that the decision to follow the old academic calendar was taken because the current session was coming to an end and many private educational institutions had been repeatedly contacting the department to send them the details of the new academic session.

Children study without basic facilities in Sindh’s public schools

In the absence of any major changes in the schedule of the matriculation examinations, around 500,000 ninth-grade students from Sindh will have to appear in their board exams after taking their classes for only seven months. The new schedule will be tougher for students because, unlike in the past, they will be required to take seven exams instead of five.

The previous steering committee had changed the schedule of summer holidays in Sindh, according to which students will now take a break in May and June instead of June and July. The winter break, on the other hand, will take place from December 22 to December 31, and schools will resume the session from January 1.

“I have discussed the matter with the new minister, Saeed Ghani, and a meeting of the new steering committee is on the cards,” Mangi said. “Once the meeting is conducted, we are expecting a slight change in the dates of the matric and intermediate annual examinations. However, everything else will take place as per the previous year’s calendar.”

It is pertinent to recall that a few years ago, the Sindh education department was separated into two sections - one for colleges and the other for schools. Owing to that, the secretary of only one section could not call a meeting of the steering committee. Moreover, after the Sindh chief minister took back the portfolio of education from Syed Sardar Ali Shah in August last year, there was no minister to head the department for six months. Under the circumstances, the school education department was left with no choice but to follow last year’s academic calendar.

In response to the decision, the All Private Schools Management Association of Sindh (PSMA) has raised several objections regarding the commencement of the session from July.

Capital’s schools may serve lunches to students

“We have an objection against the implementation of last year’s calendar because if it is followed, the current academic session will be stretched to 14 months instead of 12,” the chairperson of the PSMA Sharaf uz Zaman said. “We were present at the steering committee meeting in 2019 and urged the school education department to refrain from taking such a decision.”

Sharaf uz Zaman also pointed out that children who are in the eighth grade will be promoted to the ninth grade in July 2020 and they will have to sit in their board exams in March 2021.

“From July to March, students will also have their winter break along with other holidays, according to which they will attend classes for a total of seven months and 10 days. Is it enough to complete the syllabi of seven subjects within this time?” he questioned.

“Across Pakistan, ninth-grade students study for 12 months before appearing in their board exams and our students in Sindh will have to finish their academic year within seven months, which is very difficult. The government should consider this as soon as possible.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2020.