Shafqat Mehmood to talk with Cambridge on CIE exams

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood on Wednesday said that the government will discuss with the Cambridge International Examination (CIE) board today if the upcoming O and A level exams can be postponed.

“We will hold a meeting with Cambridge again today to review the situation and we will see if these exams can be postponed,” Mehmood told the media after the conclusion of the meeting of education and health ministers at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

The minister, in a brief statement, avoided commenting further on the matter as he was yet to have the discussion Cambridge on the issue.

He added that he will share an update on the exams once he holds the meeting with the UK board.

The federal education minister today chaired an important meeting of education and health ministers at the NCOC to decide on the closure of schools amid an alarming rise of coronavirus cases in the country.

The number of COVID-19 active cases has doubled in the last three weeks while the positivity ratio has remained above 8% in the last few days. According to the NCOC data, the number of active cases was 17,352 on March 6 which reached 36,849 on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Mehmood had announced that Cambridge, Inter, Matric and other exams will be be held as per schedule.

He also shared that local board exams for grades 10, 11 and 12 will be held this year in May and June.

"Our children are giving [inter and matric] exams under the Pakistani boards, hence the same [rule] will also apply for children giving exams for other boards," he had said earlier, referring to O level and A level students.

However, he today said that since CIE examinations were being held much earlier than local board exams, he would explore the possibility of postponement with the Cambridge board.