Students don't want to sit in CAIE exams and no, it's not about more play time

Demanding teacher-assessed grades, dozens of students of the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) system staged a protest outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on April 2 against the scheduled O-Level and A-Level examinations in April and May.

The Federal Education Minister, Shafqat Mahmood, then announced on April 6 that exams will be held from the third week of May as per schedule. But many students, as well as celebrities including Hadiqa Kiani and Asim Azhar, continued to urge the minister to think about the consequences.

To no avail, four different high courts on Friday turned down the students' petitions to cancel physical examinations or switch to predicted grades. Students from all corners of Pakistan had been running a social media campaign for the cause, which garnered the support of politicians, celebrities and other influential personalities.

Now, the hashtag #ImranKhanCancelExams has been trending high on Twitter as the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and the Government of Pakistan refuse to deter from a decision which could have dangerous repercussions amid the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

“We do not find any justification or rationale to interfere, when all arrangements have already been made for physical examinations. And a large number of students are geared up to appear in the exam while only a few students have approached the court of law. Hampering the entire process is completely unwarranted and prejudicial to the interest of large number of those students who are ready to appear and are making preparations religiously,” the Sindh High Court said regarding the petitions.

Following this, many showbiz stars such as Jibran Nasir, Waqar Zaka, Feroze Khan, Momina Mustehsan and Shahveer Jafry among others have voiced their support for the students. “I want to thank #Cambridge students who participated, rallied and supported a common cause in whichever way. Despite not winning the court case I congratulate them for holding the government accountable and asserting themselves as political stakeholders,” tweeted Nasir.

Zaka resorted to requesting the PM to make necessary amendments now that all hope seem to be lost. “Peshawar to ISB and now Sindh high court ordered that exams will not be cancelled, my apology, we tried. But now it’s the Prime minister who can cancel exams so Khan sahab sari fame apko hi miley gi don’t worry. But relief de dou students ko #ImrankhancancleEXAMS.”

The Khuda Aur Muhabbat star, on the other hand, simply tweeted, “Cancel exams, save lives,” which pretty much sums things up. Mustehsan went on to suggest, “Would it not be better to consider cancelling exams, or to wait for the wave to subside? The curve needs to be flattened. In person examinations will put the entire nation at risk of transmission, especially at this crucial time.”

Jafry shared the hashtag #ImranKhanCancelExams with picture of a woman holding a placard that read, “Rather miss a grade then dig a grave.”

The rest of Twitter is simply urging the premier to prevent the crisis currently going on in India, from happening in Pakistan.

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