The education department has decided to conduct board examinations for fifth and eighth grades from 2026.
The move comes after poor results in 9th and 10th class board exams this year, with officials claiming that early board-level preparation will lead to better matriculation results. According to the official notification, the exams will be conducted by PECTA and will be mandatory only for government schools.
Teachers' unions, including the Punjab Teachers' Union, have strongly rejected the decision, arguing that the same experiment has twice failed in the past. They criticised the exclusion of private schools, warning that government school students who fail in Grade 8 may shift to private institutions for Grade 9, ultimately reducing enrollment in government schools and paving the way for privatisation.
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