Shafqat Mehmood rules out extension in exams

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister of Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood on Friday refused to extend exam date for those seeking more time to prepare, saying "those students who say give more time can always appear in supplementary exams taken 2/3 months by all boards. Why should these exams be postponed and students who have been studying be penalised?"

Mehmood reminded students that exams would be commencing from tomorrow (July 10) in the remaining provinces and federating units. "Wish all students taking exams from tomorrow the very best. Inshallah, all will do well," he wrote.

Earlier, he criticised the opposition and said the PMLN had resorted to cheap political tactics by commenting on the issue of exams.

In a tweet, the minister said that PMLN leaders Ahsan Iqbal and Saad Rafique know that exams have already taken place in Balochistan and Sindh and therefore, other students cannot be treated differently.

“They know that [the] decision to take exams was taken unanimously by all federating units, including PMLN's govt in AJK, and PPP in Sindh,” he said.

The minister added that Ahsan and Rafique know that students cannot be promoted on the basis of previous exams as there were no exams last year and that they should know if they claim to be educated that exams are the best measure of the students' ability.

Mehmood wrote that the two leaders should know that after the 18th amendment, out of the 30 educational boards across the country, only one board, i.e. the federal board, was given to the federal government, while other boards are governed by the respective provinces and other bodies.

"Yet they [Ahsan Iqbal and Saad Rafique] were pretending that one order from a federal minister can stop exams across the country. Again just a failed attempt at cheap politics," the minister wrote while censuring the statements of the PMLN leaders.