All Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISEs) in Punjab have decided to resume practical exams of matriculation and intermediate classes after a gap of two years caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The boards have advised all government and private schools to start preparations for the practical exams.
The practical exams of both matriculation and intermediate classes were cancelled by Punjab government during the past two academic because of the outbreak of coronavirus in the province. All the nine BISEs in the province did not hold practical tests of various subjects as part of the annual examinations.
In the relevant subjects, 50 marks were allocated for practical exams in matric as well as intermediate board exams.
Following restrictions of social distancing imposed to prevent the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, the practical exam sections at the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education stopped working. The science laboratories of schools and colleges also remained shut during the period.
However, now the Inter-Board Committee of Chairpersons (IBCC) has decided to take practical exams in view of normalisation of the situation with respect to the pandemic in the province to a large extent.
According to sources, all the boards are resuming the operations of their practical exams sections, while officials required for the examination centres will also be appointed.
"The Lahore BISE has restored the practical centres following the decision and officials of the relevant sections have also been appointed,” the board’s Communication Adviser Qaiser Virk told The Express Tribune.
He said the boards had also issued a notification in this regard and elaborated the duties of the officials who would supervise then exams.
Punjab Teachers Union secretary general Rana Liaqat Ali confirmed that preparations for the practical tests of students had started in all government schools and colleges. “The students are also enthusiastic over the reopening of labs in the schools after two years,” he added.
Read: Covid cases rise at K-P educational institutions
However, an official called for steps by the Punjab government to ensure avoidance of complaints of irregularities and mismanagement as had been reported in practical exams in earlier years.
“It is appreciable that all BISEs are resuming practical examinations, but appointment of the staff on merit is very important,” a Lahore BISE official said.
He said the marks obtained in the practical exams played an important role in the top positions achieved by students.
He claimed that there had been complaints in the about attempted corruption in awarding marks in the practical exams.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) on Thursday further reduced the price of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test of Covid-19, bringing it down to a maximum of Rs4,500.
Also, the private hospitals, laboratories and their collection centres of the province have been directed to mention the names of kits and companies, batch numbers and countries of origin in the diagnostic reports.
As per a letter issued across the province to all such centres permitted by the PHC for testing and collecting samples to detect Covid-19, the costs of PCR tests have been linked to the prices of kits being used. By virtue of this, the maximum price of such a test has been fixed at Rs4,500 provided the price of the kit being used is more than Rs1,500.
“In case, the kit costs less than Rs1,500, the price of the test will be Rs3,000,” directs the letter. All the centres have also been directed not to charge more than the fixed rates.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2022.
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