Govt, opposition again trade barbs in NA on board exams

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood and opposition members on Monday again traded barbs in the National Assembly on the issue of delay in board examinations to give more time to students for making preparations.

Shafqat said the opposition for the sake of cheap popularity is demanding delay in board examinations. Responding to the demand of the opposition to delay the examinations, he said it was a unanimous decision of all political forces and federating units that board papers would be taken. “We promoted students last year because we had results of the previous year, but this time, it is not possible,” he said.

He said the inter-provincial committee of the education ministers not only reduced the syllabus by 40% but also extended dates of examinations and asked the students to appear in four elective subjects. “We gave sufficient time to the students to make preparations by reducing the syllabus and subjects and extending dates of examinations by three months,” he said.

He said following the 18th Amendment, it was the inter-provincial meeting of the education ministers, which took all decisions regarding examinations, claiming that 95% of students were ready to appear in examinations. He regretted that some politicians unnecessarily raised the issue only to get cheap publicity, saying that he condemns that kind of politics. “Please do not practice politics at the cost of the future of students,” the minister advised the opposition.

Raja Parvaiz Ashraf, while responding to the Education minister, said it is a question of future of five million students and their legitimate demand for delay in examinations should have been accepted. He said the students demanding their rights on roads in Islamabad were brutally tortured. “Is there any point-scoring on the part of the opposition parties,” he said.

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said nobody demanded that examinations should not be held; rather the opposition was demanding completion of syllabus. “It was a responsibility of the government to ensure completion of syllabus before conducting examinations,” he said, adding that the minister is not talking ground realities and is stuck to his stance. “The ground realities are that the students belonging to backward areas need more time to prepare for examinations,” he said.

He said the minister for Education made the examination issue a matter of his ego. “This shows that the elite do not know the ground realities,” he said and added they are not doing politics and are fulfilling their responsibilities.