‘Unfair’ grading of students: Pakistan approaching UK HC, British Council

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has said that if any school or madrassah was found open on Aug 15 it will be shut down. He said the Pakistani students of O and A level have suffered grave injustice and we have approached the British Council, Cambridge, and the British High Commission to rectify the unfair grading, said Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood while talking to the host of the Geo News show ‘Capital Talk’ Hamid Mir.

Regarding the new curriculum, Mahmood said all the schools from classes I to V will follow the uniform curriculum from April which abides by the tenets of Holy Quran and Sunnah, Mahmood said. The federal minister said that once the class XII curriculum is ready and available, the local students would prefer the domestic curriculum over O and A level courses.

Regarding ‘unfair grading’ to students of O and A level Pakistani students, the federal education minister said the students of Pakistan appearing in Cambridge exams have been largely been graded unfairly spoiling their hard work. We are approaching the British High Commission and British Council to address this serious miscarriage of justice and hopefully, a redressal mechanism would be found out.

Mahmood said NCOC has decided to keep all educational institutions across the country closed till Sept 15 in view of health risks to children. The private schools and madrassahs must not violate the government’s directions in this regard forcing the latter to take action, the minister said. The federal minister said the government will shut down any schools being opened without permission, he added.

Our correspondent adds: Earlier, Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took notice of students’ outcry across Pakistan and expressed concern over discrepancies in the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) grades.

“Our children work hard all year, and faced with unprecedented circumstances owing to Covid-19, they had no option but to accept grades based on their expected results,” he said in a statement.

He said such glaring discrepancies had put their college admissions and future at great risk.

He urged the government to pay serious attention to the issue, and to take it up with the examination board at the earliest.

“We cannot afford a delay where the future of our nation’s youth is concerned,” he emphasised.