No-exam promotion

It is a world without society in the wake of the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic and the consequent lockdown necessitated by it. Forced by the necessity of protecting themselves from the contagion people have been confined to their homes, in most of the world, for most of the time, for nearly three months. This stifling isolation from society is affecting all spheres of life, including education. All provincial governments and the federal government had cancelled matriculation and intermediate examinations for this year and most of them had announced promotion to the next classes.

Now the boards of examination in Sindh have announced a new policy governing examinations and promotions. The policy announced for Sindh is not much different from the one earlier announced by the Centre for the boards of examinations under its jurisdiction. Under the new policy for Sindh, all regular and private students of grade 1X and X will be directly promoted to grade X and X1, respectively, without taking examination, and there will be no special examinations for students of grade 1X and X1. Students who are to appear in board examinations in 2020 will be promoted on the basis of their performance in the previous year.

Certain rules will govern the award of marks for those appearing in the 2021 board examinations. Special examinations will, however, be conducted for those unwilling to avail the facility of promotion. These examinations would be held between September and November provided the tide of the pandemic turned by then. For this, students will have to inform the relevant boards by July 1. The new policy will not be applicable to the boards which had conducted exams before imposition of the lockdown.

The Sindh government has allowed private schools to reopen from June 1, but teachers will provide education online. Online education does not seem to be a workable idea considering the slow speed of internet. Education through TV too might be hindered by prolonged power outages. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2020.

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