No decision on promoting primary school students

K-P education minister says only those who passed exams will be promoted

PESHAWAR: A day after district education departments were directed to announce exam results of primary grade students, the government clarified whether it will automatically promote these students into the next grade or not.

In a video message on Friday, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Akbar Ayub Khan, said that there were reports that the government had automatically promoted all students into the next grade without having sat in the exams but these were incorrect.

“Exams have been completed for students studying in grade one through eight,” Akbar said in the message, adding, “We have directed the district education officials to dispatch report cards to the homes of studetns and to provide those, who had cleared their exams, with course books for the next academic year along with appropriate homework so that they can utilize these unexpected two-month summer vacations constructively.”

He added that these measures do not apply to private schools at all since they have their own schedules.

Some have held exams while others have not and the private schools' regulatory authority is in touch with the association of private schools to determine their examination schedules.

The provincial minister added that the government has decided that exams for secondary school certificates (matriculation) and higher secondary school certificates (intermediate), which could not be held due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, have been provisionally scheduled for the first week of June.

“If things improve, board exams will be held in June,” he said, adding, “We will not let an entire academic year of students go to waste.”

Earlier, a notification issued from the provincial education department on Thursday had directed all district education officers (DEOs) to release results of all classes from grades one through eight and to provide them with textbooks for the next academic year with assignments so that students can start their studies.

In this regard, a system should be adopted whereby students can receive course books at home.

To check or assign homework, the notice read that teachers can use digital learning techniques for students. Moreover, it directed teachers to provide detailed guidance to students for their homework.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2020.