KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani has said that no student of classes one to eight will be promoted to the next level without appearing for their examinations.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, the education minister also said that educational institutions in the province will remain closed due to the coronavirus threat till May 30 although their office staff shall remain present during this period.

It was said that the offices of all educational institutions will also remain open to receive monthly fees, including the fees for the summer vacations, so that all the teaching and non-teaching staff are paid their monthly salaries on time.

The calendar for the academic year 2020/21 was also discussed and it was said that for now the fresh academic year will begin from June 1 although this, too, is subject to change. “That is also when classes one to eight can hold their exams, from June 1 to June 15, and from June 15 to June 30, we will hold matric examinations,” the minister said, adding that the Board of Secondary Education will announce the results for the matric exams on August 15.

“Meanwhile,” he said, “the intermediate board exams will commence from July 6 and their results will be announced on Sept 15. Admissions for class XI or first year will commence from July 15 and classes for both XI and XII or first or second year will begin from Aug 1.”

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2020