Covid-19 compliance outside examination centers is poor: Shafqat Mahmood

The minister says exams and the latest corona spread reports will be discussed in a special NCOC meeting today

Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said on Tuesday that Covid-19 compliance outside the examination centres was poor whereas permission to conduct exams was conditional on strict SOP observance.

"This and the latest corona spread reports will be discussed in a special NCOC meeting today afternoon," the education minister announced in a tweet.

Permission to hold exam was conditional on strict SOP observance. As more reports have come in, It is obvious that outside the exam centres the compliance is poor. This and the latest corona spread reports will be discussed in a special NCOC meeting today afternoon.

— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) April 27, 2021

A day before on April 26, the minister said that students who choose to defer their upcoming Cambridge examination of May/June - due to the rise in pandemic - could switch to October/November cycle with the same fee paid earlier.

The minister also posted a supporting document provided by Cambridge Assessment International Education to answer different scenarios that facilities the students.

Read more: BIEK announces dates for examination form submission

According to the document, in some syllabuses, candidates could take the component in a way that is easier to manage. For example, AS & A Level, Art & Design candidates can produce one piece of course work instead of three.

It added that schools could apply for exemptions where they feel candidates were not able to complete the syllabus due to any reason

Candidates could choose not to take a component but can still receive an overall syllabus grade, the document stated.

"Students can receive a grade when for any reason they miss some exams. Cambridge will give results to all students who have taken at least one component of a subject in May / June 2021 exam series," it added.