Cancel these exams
This writer is the former editor of The Express Tribune and can be reached @Tribunian
As Pakistan grapples with the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of students are expected to appear for the O and A-Level exams in person — which goes against the SOPs announced earlier this week by the government itself.
These students have asked that the Cambridge Board cancel the upcoming May-June 2021 exams which seems like a reasonable demand given the extraordinary times we live in.
But their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Four different high courts have turned down the petitions to cancel physical examinations or switch to predicted grades.
As things stand, the Cambridge O and A-Level exams in Pakistan this year will begin on April 26 and end on June 11.
While the government decided to close down schools in Punjab, Islamabad, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa this month, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood insists that Intermediate, Matric, and Cambridge exams will be held as per schedule. This does not make any sense.
In comparison to Pakistan, we are told the Cambridge International board has cancelled exams in over 10 countries across the world. Cambridge International is opting for teacher assessments for its IGCSE qualifications in the UK. The board said that it will go for teachers’ assessments in a “very small” number of countries and regions where it will be “impossible” for the exams to go ahead. One wonders why Pakistan does not fall in that category.
This week, #cancelcieexams2021 emerged as one of the top Twitter trends in the country as students tried to get across their point of view. The issue goes beyond the fact that in most schools, the prescribed syllabi has not been taught fully or that online classes have left a lot to be desired. The question is — why expose these young men and women to risk that can be avoided?
Some students have complained that the real disruption caused by the pandemic was the constant switching between online and on-campus classes. They say that the CIE was unmoved by the plight of the students and did nothing to help them.
Students have raised a number of points to argue their case. Schools struggled with delivering curriculum due to on/off schedules. Also, students and their parents who contracted the virus found it difficult to cope up with their studies. We can also not forget hostel students who were forced back home didn’t have a proper environment to study. In comparison, most countries have promoted students based on predicted grades. Local boards also reduced the exam syllabus or delayed assessments.
Many students fear that if they end up with bad grades, which happened with a lot of them last year, it will make it difficult for them to get into universities of their choice.
It seems that the government’s different ministries are not on one page. While the NCOC issues its set of SOPs, the education ministry does not seem to abide by them. If outdoor activities are banned, then why are in-person examinations allowed?
The bigger question is — why do we allow CIEs in the first place? Why does Pakistan have this smorgasbord of examination bodies assessing our students? Why can’t we fix this problem so that we have one national examination system in place without having to resort to foreign boards. Granted that the CIEs exist in different countries across the world but not as an alternate to the national exam system. Instead they cater to a small minority of students. Not so in Pakistan where millions of dollars are spent in this exercise.
When the CIEs issue surfaced last year, I asked some colleagues from South Asia to tell me how their countries were coping with the issue. They were at a loss to explain. It seems all the other countries in South Asia — be it India, Bangladesh, Nepal or Sri Lanka – have their local exam boards which are responsible for testing and grading the students. India has two central boards and every state has its own board. Central boards emphasise on English while state boards prefer the state language. This is exactly the system that should be in place in Pakistan.
I recall that the Aga Khan Board tried to introduce something like this but it did not take off as expected. What’s surprising is why the government continues to sleep on this. Where is our national pride now?
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2021.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.