Matric, intermediate exams to be given priority: Shafqat Mehmood

Intermediate and matriculation examinations will be given priority to other board exams, confirmed Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood on Thursday. 

In a series of tweets, the minister announced that board exams in Pakistan will commence after June 15. 

"Interprovincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) took place yesterday. It was decided that Board exams would begin after June 15. Intermediate and Matric exams would be given priority so that results can come in before university admissions," tweeted the minister.

Members of the IPEMC rejected the suggestion to promote students of grades 9 and 11. They also gave their approval to hold the exams as scheduled in July.  

Mehmood revealed that the government will give priority to exams for grades 12 and 10 followed by grades 11 and 9.

 A day earlier, the minister had said intermediate examinations in the country would be held after June 15.

Mehmood, speaking in Geo News' programme "Capital Talk", had said the coronavirus situation was getting better in the country due to vaccinations and other steps taken by the government.

"I am very hopeful," he had said about holding examinations.

The minister had said only A-2 examinations were being held across the country, but several people were voicing their demands to be awarded school assessed grades.

"If examinations do not take place then no one will study — and that is why the (O/A- level) exams — that have been postponed — will be conducted in October and November," he had said.

Last month, as the COVID-19 cases rose, Mehmood and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had announced that as per the suggestion of the National Command and Operation Centre, all board exams had been postponed till June 15.