Sindh fears exam delay due to pandemic
Pakistan reports 47 more deaths due to COVID-19 in 24 hours
Islamabad: The Sindh Education Minister has expressed fears that schools, colleges and universities in the province could delay exams due to their prolonged closure during the pandemic last year.
Speaking after a meeting of the Steering Committee to review the resumption of educational activities in the province, Education Minister Saeed Ghani said the pandemic had affected almost every department and the provincial government was working to streamline the process.
In the meeting, we discussed in detail about the academic year and all the stakeholders were of the view that we should not take examinations in haste and ensure that at least 60 per cent of the curriculum was taught comprehensively, said Ghani while replying to a question.
Delay by one or two months
Ghani said the exams might be delayed by one or two months to provide sufficient time to the teachers to cover the course and for students to prepare for the examination.
The provincial education minister said a committee has been formed which would consult educational authorities and make recommendations regarding the examination and admissions in all schools, colleges and universities because they were all interlinked.
He said classed were being held for grades 9 to 12 while the rest of the educational institutions would open by February 1.
About COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), he said random testing would continue at educational institutions.
47 deaths, 1,745 infections in one day
Pakistan on Friday reported 47 deaths due to COVID-19 in a period of 24 hours taking the overall toll to 11,204. The number of confirmed cases during the same period was reported at 1,745. With this new figure the country’s tally of COVID-19 infections has surged to 528,891.
According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC), there are 2,362 critical cases of COVID-19 in the country while the active cases stood at 34,916.
The NCOC data shows Pakistan’s single-day recoveries at 2,075 while the total number of recoveries from COVID-19 so far are 482,771.