Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani rules out promoting students without exams

KARACHI: Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani on Monday said that the students in the province will not be promoted without prior examinations.

Ghani made the announcement during the meeting of educational ministers chaired by Shafqat Mahmood earlier during the day that reviewed the current coronavirus situation and instructed that schools be closed from November 26.

During the meeting, the education minister made it clear that he was against the closure of all educational institutions and recommended that primary schools, with an enrollment percentage of 73% should be shut down.

Ghani said that students in grade 6 and above should be allowed to attend classes physically, while others should study at home.

The minister put forward another suggestion that the exam dates of grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 should be announced after reviewing the situation.

Ghani said that those schools who wanted children to take classes online should be allowed to do so. He said that schools should be directed not to take action against students whose parents don't want to send them to school during the pandemic.

The provincial education minister said that all non-teaching activities in educational institutions should be halted.

The Sindh education minister further said that small private schools should be given loans from banks on easy terms for financial relief. "Along with schools, we should also include tuition and coaching centers in it," he suggested.