Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood took to Twitter on Monday to say that following consultation with Cambridge and other stakeholders within the country it has been decided that O level/IGCSE exams in Pakistan will be held from May 10th.
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“I had received a letter from Christine Ozden, CEO Cambridge requesting that O level/IGCSE exam should be allowed to start from May 10 instead of May 15,” he said tweeting this afternoon.
I had received a letter from Christine Ozden, CEO Cambridge requesting that O level/IGCSE exam should be allowed to start fro May 10 instead of May 15. After consultation with provinces/stakeholders we have agreed. Now O level/IGCSE will start from May 10 pic.twitter.com/IZeIYyQfWd
— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) March 29, 2021
“After consultation with provinces/stakeholders, we have agreed. Now O level/IGCSE will start from May 10,” he added.
The minister, in his Twitter post, also cited a letter from Ozden, which said that the exam at the earlier date would “help us to enable many more students to progress and [that] their equivalence in the education system will be fairer.”
The letter shows a request to the Education Minister by the CEO Cambridge Assessment International Education to “consider whether we (CAIE) are able to start Cambridge O Level and IGCSE” exams from 10th of May, rather than the earlier agreed date of 15th May.
On March 25, after concerns by thousands of students and parents on Twitter, the minister said that Cambridge International had agreed to reschedule ‘O’ level exams to after May 15 amid an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the country.
However, he had said that “A” and “As” level exams will take place as per the original timetable, following all standard operation procedures (SOPs) mandated to keep the virus at bay.
There is still much outcry going on by A levels students to delay the exams, following the news that many countries around the world have done so keeping in view the ongoing pandemic.
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Earlier today, while responding to a query regarding the viral story of the autistic child who was denied access to the special arrangements i.e., scribe and extra time, the education minister said that he had spoken to the Country Director Cambridge in Pakistan and that they will facilitate the process.
Will certainly do https://t.co/ngTGDGW2S9
— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) March 28, 2021
A total of about 90,000 students from all over Pakistan will participate in the A and O Level examinations for June 2021 series, in which about 50,000 will take part in the rescheduled O Level examinations.
Candidates can visit the CAIE website to see the guideline and options they have for the upcoming exams, to deal with extraordinary circumstances.