ISLAMABAD: Education ministers of the country on Monday decided that exams of 10th and 12th classes will be held in the first phase after June 20 this year.

The Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC), held an online meeting which was chaired by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood. The meeting decided that exams of all boards will be held by all means and no student will be promoted without an exam.

The IPEMC decided that after June 20, the exams of 10th and 12th classes will be held followed by class 9th and 11th exams.

The meeting directed all the examination boards across the country to take steps for conducting the exams.

It was also decided that schools under Basic Education Community Schools and the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), in accordance with a decision already taken by the federal government and Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee, would be adopted by the provincial governments.

The meeting decided that before closure of the current fiscal year, provincial governments will take over community schools operating in their jurisdiction. The ministers decided that this year instead of two months the summer vacations would continue for only a few weeks. Sources said it was decided that provinces will announce short summer vacations.

Meanwhile, the federal education minister urged provincial ministers to take steps for vaccinating teachers and allow only vaccinated teachers and staff to conduct exams.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2021