https://arab.news/w4tzz
- Education minister says ‘difficult decision’ taken during ‘tough times’
- Pakistan is battling a third wave of COVID-19, with 70 killed in the past 24 hours
ISLAMABAD: Despite an uptick in COVID-19 deaths and infections across the country, Pakistan began its Cambridge International AS and A-level exams on Monday with officials assuring students that “strict implementation” of health protocols would be followed at all times.
“These are tough times, and difficult decisions have been made keeping the students best interest in view,” Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood tweeted on Monday.
“British Council is committed to strict implementation of SOPs [standard operating procedures] and we will monitor them closely,” he added, before wishing “all students taking exams starting from today, the very best.”
The decision by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government to hold the exams during the third wave of the coronavirus outbreak in the country has faced mounting criticism, particularly from students demanding that the tests be canceled or postponed.
Several students took to Twitter to protest against the move on Thursday, with #ImranKhanCancelEXAMS becoming one of the top trends on the social media site in Pakistan.
The government, however, said that the exams would be held on schedule with AS and A-Levels starting on April 26 and O Level and IGCSE exams on May 10.
In a separate tweet on Monday, Mahmood added that “students and parents who are still not comfortable can switch to October, November cycle without any extra charge.”
Pakistan is currently battling a third wave of the coronavirus, registering 4,825 cases and 70 deaths in 24 hours.
On Sunday, the interior ministry issued a notification for the deployment of armed forces to enforce coronavirus-related SOPs in Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Islamabad Capital Territory. The notification, conferred under Article 245, does not apply to the southern Sindh province.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr. Faisal Sultan said during the weekend that there was a 50 percent chance of the government imposing a complete lockdown in major Pakistani cities due to a spike in infections, adding that wider restrictions would be beneficial only if they were imposed ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.