Sindh’s new academic year schedule sets summer vacations from May to June

Making significant changes to the academic year schedule, the Sindh government has announced that the annual summer vacations this year would begin from May 1 and end on June 30, while the academic year would start on July 1.

This was decided on Wednesday during a meeting of the Steering Committee for Education chaired by Minister for Education and Literacy Syed Sardar Ali Shah. Decisions on the beginning of the new academic year, admissions schedule, summer vacations, timings of schools and colleges, sports and co-curricular activities at the school level, transparent examinations and redesign of exam papers to foster critical thinking were among the items on the agenda.

According to a statement issued by the Sindh Information Department, it was decided that annual examinations in schools will be held between March 20 and April 30, which would be followed immediately by two months of summer vacations. Schools will begin the new academic year from July 1.

Moreover, it was decided that all the national days including Kashmir Day, Pakistan Day, Independence Day, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Day, Eid Miladun Nabi and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s death anniversary will be celebrated with great enthusiasm at schools and colleges to ensure that students learn about the importance of these national days.

Schools Secretary Qazi Shahid Pervez, Colleges Secretary Parvez Sehar, Sindh Education Foundation Managing Director Naheed Shah, the director general of Monitoring and Evaluation, DG Colleges, DG PITE Shaheed Benazirabad, all the directors schools education, chairmen of education boards and chief program manager Reforms Support Unit attended the meeting.

Education Minister Shah said that the steering committee is the brain of the education department and it has the mandate to decide strategies for the academic year. “Our main goals for 2019 include fixing the issues of the education department. We are planning to make sure the implementation of all decisions of the committee and education department,” he said.

Cheating culture in the annual exams was also discussed and it was agreed that the pattern of question papers for 2020 would be changed, which could be helpful in developing critical thinking of students instead of memorising specific answers. The committee will clarify its policy for setting up a data bank of the purpose later.

However, the chairmen of all educational boards agreed that the coming annual exams will be conducted in open grounds instead of classrooms. The concerned officials were tasked to formulate a policy regarding security arrangements, mobile phones jammers, furniture and appointment of invigilators to conduct open ground exams and to call a meeting within 15 days.

After the meeting, the minister clarified that national and religious festivals will be considered holidays but teachers and students will also celebrate national days at schools and colleges. “On the occasions of national days curriculum activities will remain suspended. However, schools and colleges will arrange celebrations,” he said.

Shah informed that now a meeting of the steering committee will be held after the interval of three months instead of once in a year, and the next meeting will be held in March. He also called a meeting of the officials of all educational boards within 15 days to prepare a strategy for conducting transparent exams.