Climate crisis: Outdated education calendar in Sindh strains students

Rapid climate changes across Sindh, similar to the rest of the country, have rendered the province's education calendar outdated and misaligned with current weather conditions.

The lack of attention from relevant authorities has led to the calendar being deemed obsolete, with the scheduling of academic sessions and exams no longer suitable for the climate, creating hardships for millions of students.

During winter, the outdated schedule impacts junior classes the most, while in summer, nearly 2 million matric and intermediate students are affected each year. Despite this, the Sindh government's School and College Education Department and the Universities and Boards Department have shown no readiness to address these issues or to align the academic calendar with the climate. This often results in extended holidays or the postponement of exams, as seen this year with matric and intermediate exams delayed due to extreme heatwaves.

The Federal Ministry of Education had notified Sindh about these issues via a letter, highlighting the need for alignment with the national academic schedule. Incidentally, the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Education is currently held by the head of the MQM-P party from Sindh. However, the current state of affairs has led to the suspension of ongoing matric exams on May 22 in Karachi, which in turn affected the schedule for intermediate exams starting May 28.

Due to the postponement of pre-medical and pre-engineering exams, the exams for arts and commerce, initially scheduled for the last week of June, will also face delays. These disruptions, driven by extreme weather, have impacted approximately 290,000 intermediate and 350,000 matric students in Karachi alone, with nearly 2 million students affected province-wide.

The question arises whether the Sindh government or its relevant department and ministry were unaware of this climate intensity beforehand. With the help of the meteorological department, weather forecasts for the coming months could have been obtained and decisions made accordingly. However, this was not done, and when exams started in extreme heat, several incidents of students fainting due to severe heat, humidity, and load shedding at examination centres were reported in various cities of Sindh.

It is clear that the Federal Ministry of Education, through a letter dated March 6, 2024, tried to convince the Sindh government's Department of Universities and Boards that Sindh is part of the federation. All provincial chairpersons had decided to hold exams earlier; therefore, Sindh should also implement this decision. This decision was made at the IBCC, and it was endorsed at the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers' Conference held on December 12, 2023.

When "Express" spoke to IBCC Secretary Dr Ghulam Ali Mallah on this matter, he said, "It was an IBCC decision that included chairpersons from Sindh's educational boards, along with those from other provinces. However, the problem is that the decision on exam dates in Sindh is made by the steering committee, which claims that the curriculum is not yet complete. Therefore, it is not possible to conduct exams in better weather, and exams end up being held in extreme weather."

He further stated, "We will plan to hold exams in March from now on, with exams concluding by the end of April. Otherwise, the same problems will continue, with students taking exams in extreme heat and many universities starting admissions while students are left behind."

In response to a question, Dr. Mallah said, "I once again recommend to the Sindh government to hold exams in March, honour the IBCC forum's recommendations and the Federal Ministry of Education's letter, which is in the best interest of Sindh's children. Sindh's children are my children. The other three provinces and the Azad Jammu Kashmir Board have tried to hold matric and intermediate exams in better weather."

It is noteworthy that for several decades, the academic session in Sindh started on April 1. However, due to COVID-19, the session shifted to August in 2020, and it continued to start on August 1 until 2023. The delayed start of the session resulted in delays in annual exams for all classes. Additionally, when primary and elementary students are home for summer vacations after the session ends, they have no summer vacation homework because the academic session has not started, disrupting the learning process.

Initially, the Sindh School Education Department's steering committee decided to revert the session start to April, setting a date of April 15 and approving the minutes of the meeting. However, it was later revealed that the Sindh Textbook Board was not in a position to print textbooks for the April session as the printing tender had been cancelled multiple times. Consequently, the session was once again shifted to start on August 1, with concerns that the annual exams in 2025 would also be held in extreme heat.

When Express contacted Dr Muhammad Memon, a renowned education expert and former chairman of the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board Hyderabad, for his opinion on the mismatch between the academic calendar and the weather in Sindh, he said, "During my tenure as chairman of the Hyderabad Board, and when Qazi Shahid Pervez was the secretary of education, we had invited the director of the meteorology department to the steering committee meeting. The officer clearly stated that the peak of winter in Sindh is recorded more in January than in December, and shared data to support this. However, no decision was made. Now, similar issues are arising in matric and intermediate exams. Exams are serious business, but we are not ready to understand this."

He added, "The IBCC has also tried several times to unify the country's academic calendar, with matric and intermediate exams ideally held in March and April when the weather is better. Boards also need time to compile results, during which universities start admissions, leaving students stressed. We need to fix this issue for the coming years. This year, efforts were made to start the session in April, but it was found at the last moment that the Sindh Textbook Board was not prepared, and the decision was reversed."

Express also made several attempts to contact Abbas Baloch, the secretary of the Department of Universities and Boards, and even sent questions via WhatsApp about the academic schedule's misalignment with the weather, affecting students in the province. However, no response was received.

A board chairman, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "The dates for exams in Sindh are decided in the steering committee meeting of the education department, usually chaired by the education minister, with the presence of the three relevant secretaries (school, college, and universities and boards). The schedule designed by the board chairperson is often overruled in the meeting, with claims that the curriculum is not yet complete. Despite our arguments, our voices are suppressed, resulting in students taking exams in severe heat and load shedding, leading to the cancellation of papers."

Similar issues arise in winter, with winter vacations given from December 22 to December 31. However, meteorological data shows that the cold wave in Sindh, especially Karachi, peaks in January, with temperatures dropping to around 6 degrees Celsius. Despite this, the government is not prepared to acknowledge the climate change.

Efforts were also made to contact Zahid Abbasi, the secretary of the Sindh School Education Department, regarding the academic session and climate changes, but no response was received.